Hopes and Dreams
by Neko-Salosa
Summary: Sequel to Faith and Trust. Danny and the Titans meet a new foe from beyond the stars. But is he what he seems? And can Danny balance his new duties of being a Titan as well as being a student and maintain his important friendships. DxS
1. How everything will begin

Danny stretched his arms over his head and looked around his room. It was half cast in shadow as the early morning sun peaked into the room. He groaned and flopped back down onto his pillows and pulled his covers over his head. He had absolutely no desire to be up at that time and if luck was with him, no one else did either. 

Unfortunately, Danny wasn't known for having a whole lot of luck.

In the back of his room he heard a small ring. His bleary mind told him that it was his cell phone, so he reached out and groped around for his phone on the desk. He looked at it for a few seconds as the ringing continued and pressed the call button. "Hello?" he asked sleepily.

The ringing continued as a voice chimed from his phone. "We are sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be completed, please hang u…" Danny hung up and dragged himself out of bed.

He was now awake and not very happy about it as he rooted around in his closet for his Titans' Communicator. Finally he found the black and yellow device and pulled it out. "Hello?" he asked grumpily.

Robin was on the other end, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry Danny, but you were the closest Titan to the problem."

"Closest Titan?" Danny asked, yawning as he fell back onto his bed.

"You live in Amity Park on the west coast, right?" Robin asked.

"Yes…" Danny said slowly. "Why?"

"We're in a space station right now," Robin told him. "Which is why we can't handle this. There are reports that a small meteor has hit about 20 miles south of your town. Now, chances are that it is completely harmless, but in the off chance that it's not, we need to be prepared. The meteor is unapproachable by any human because it's giving off some kind of energy, or so we've been told. Since you can go intangible…" Robin trailed off as Danny started to doze off. "Phantom?" he asked loudly.

Danny jerked awake and yawned. "W-wha? Oh, meteor, right," he yawned again. "And if I find something?"

"Call us and wait for backup. We should be done with this in an hour," Robin told him. "What time is it there?"

"6:30," Danny muttered in a less then amused voice.

"How late were you up?" Cyborg countered.

Danny smiled sheepishly. "2:30," he admitted. "There was a DOOM tournament online. Tuck and I made it into the final rounds. Then Sam came and kicked our butts."

Beast Boy's laughter could be heard. "Awesome. I watched that for a bit."

"Well, can you take care of it?" Robin asked, cutting off Beast Boy's chatter.

Danny nodded and stood up, stretching. "Yeah, I can. I'll go check out what's wrong and call back as soon as I'm done."

"Thanks, Phantom," Robin replied and nodded before the screen went blank.

Danny sighed and walked out of his room, the communicator hanging loosely from his hand. He muttered incomprehensibly as he made his way towards the bathroom. His mom came upstairs and poked her head around the corner while Danny was just about to go into the bathroom. "Up so early?" she asked.

Danny yawned, "Yeup."

Her eyes flicked to the half open communicator in his hand. "Going somewhere?" she asked.

Danny followed her gaze and glanced down at his hand. He blushed and shut the communicator with a click. "Yeah," he admitted. "There was a meteor crash and I was asked to check it out. Is that okay?"

Maddie nodded. "Just pick up something to eat before you leave and make sure your dad doesn't see you."

Danny smiled, "Thanks mom."

Maddie winked back. "No problem, sweetie." She turned around and walked back down the stairs, leaving Danny to muse about their conversation.

His life had gone so much easier since she had figured out his secret. They decided that Jack should know when they could trust him not to overreact and when the right time came. Otherwise, every absence he had, everything he missed and every time he screwed up because of his 'missions' or his own job of going around and saving his town from ghosts, he could count on his mother to excuse him from it all. However, that was a double edged sword, as he soon found out.

While his mother was a wonderful supporter, he was still his mother. And if he thought Jazz was overprotective, it didn't even begin to compare to what his mom was like if he came home even 3 minutes after he said he would be home. She would check him for injuries and make sure he wasn't tired or upset before letting him go. And while the thought was appreciated, it became a bit annoying after awhile.

Still, he mused as he splashed cold water onto his face, it could be worse. She could have totally rejected him, but that didn't matter. She didn't, and he knew that his dad wouldn't either; he just needed to make sure his dad heard in the right place at the right time to avoid anything too awkward.

After he was done in the bathroom, Danny went changed his clothes and went downstairs. He greeted his mom with a kiss on her cheek and grabbed two pieces of toast and an apple. "Okay, I'm going now," he told her.

"When will you be back?" she asked as she flipped a pancake in the pan.

Danny shrugged, "I really have no idea," he admitted. "I have to make sure whatever it is that landed isn't… evil, then I have to call Robin and wait for them. I'm guessing it may take a few hours, it not longer."

"If it takes longer then lunch time, call me and check up," Maddie told him with a sigh. "Longer then that and I'm coming out there."

Danny rolled his eyes while her back was turned so she couldn't see. "Yes, mom," he said as obediently as he could muster, even though he could tell there was some cynicism in his voice. "I'm going now."

"Bye sweetie," Maddie replied. "Don't forget to call!"

Danny quickly ran out the door yelling, "All right mom!" before Maddie could get any more 'advice' in. It was like she thought he was five or something.

He ran into a small alley near his house and transformed into his half ghost alter ego, Danny Phantom. He glanced up at the top window story of his house to make sure his dad wasn't up and ghost patrolling. When he made sure it was okay, he flew up and quietly flew out beyond the borders of Amity Park.

After he was out of the city, he began to fly as fast as he could towards where he needed to go. It's not that he wanted to get there quickly, but rather, he wanted to go fast. Half the fun of being half ghost was being able to fly. The weightless feeling of floating in the air and being able to go anywhere he wanted to.

Unfortunately, a 20 mile ride at 117 MPH made for a very short trip. With a sigh, he glanced down at the small scene of mayhem below and counted to ten slowly before he landed and got ready for the inevitable.

He floated over to where a man in a black uniform was yelling out random directions and pointing to places or people. "YOU!" he pointed at a hapless worker. "OVER THERE!"

The person he pointed to paled and nodded. "Yes sir!" he replied and ran over 'there' without the faintest clue of what he was actually supposed to do.

"Um, sir?" Danny asked.

The man turned around and glared at Danny. "Who are you, kid?" he snarled.

Danny smiled a little. Finally, someone whose reaction wasn't "It's the evil ghost kid! Run!" Fortunately for Danny, being a Titan had done wonders for his reputation. He cleared his throat and made a small attempt to look authoritive. "I'm a Teen Titan," he said proudly. "And I came here to investigate whatever crashed here."

The man's enormous mustache twitched as he turned a bright purple. "A kid? We ask for help and they send a kid?"

Danny crossed his arms and floated up in order to be face to face with the man. "The Teen Titans were put on this, and I was the closest by. I can get in there and out in five minutes if you'll let me."

"How, there's an energy field 3 feet thick. Nothing can get through it," the man barked.

Danny rolled his green eyes and sighed. "I'm half ghost. I can go intangible and fly through it. If that doesn't work, I can go intangible and fly underground. Either way I can get in and check if it's a threat or not."

The man narrowed his eyes and Danny and frowned. "You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere before?"

Danny blushed and held out his communicator. "My name is Phantom, here's my communicator if you don't believe me."

The man studied it and then sighed and nodded. "All right kid, go ahead and try. If whatever is in there is alive though, don't fight it."

Danny nodded, "I know that. Robin already told me this was an info mission anyways." To prove he was amiable, Danny gave the man a small smile before turning to the bright green forcefield and gulped. He flew up to it and held his hand out to test its power.

To his surprise he wasn't zapped, nor did he feel any bad energy when he laid his palm flat against the giant half bubble. If anything, it just felt like a solid wall that was obviously made of energy. He took in a deep breath, as if about to jump into a pool and went intangible. He didn't hold his breath as he passed through the several layers that made up the force field but he did feel pressure on his lungs. Whatever it was, it was heavy and it contained a lot of energy.

Finally he came out into the center of the bubble, which compared to its size was a tiny hollowed out center with absolutely nothing but a small space ship. Danny blinked and went invisible as he tried not to touch the space ship. He looked inside and saw what was unmistakably an alien inside of it, seemingly asleep. He blinked and looked at the layers of force field and wondered what was going on.

The alien stirred a bit and Danny got ready to zoom out to report but instead the odd creature merely turned onto his side and continued to sleep. Confused he floated out of the bubble and back over to the tall man.

"Well?" he asked.

"Uhhh… I have no idea," Danny admitted. "I'm going to call the other Titans. Maybe Robin knows something." Before the man could protest Danny took off and floated a safe distance away from the energy and the man. He pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. "Robin?"

Robin's voice came through even though no picture was shown. "Phantom? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Danny answered. "You wouldn't believe what's in the center of that thing," he said slowly.

"An alien?" Robin asked.

"Well… yeah, but more… what it…is doing," he said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"Well, if an alien were to land on this planet, what would you think it would do first?" Danny asked.

"Benevolent ones seek out the Justice League to report in and evil ones try and take over the world," Robin said simply.

"This one created a huge force field and fell asleep," Danny said, puzzled. "I'm not kidding."

There was a pause on Robin's end before Beast Boy and Cyborg burst out laughing. "Wow," Robin said slowly. "All right, we'll be there in a few minutes. Hang tight, Phantom."

"All right," Danny said and closed his communicator. He sent one more glance back at the odd force field before crossing his legs in mid air and floated high above the site, waiting for the Titans to arrive.

* * *

Oh my god it's a sequel! AHHHH! 

So, people. This can go one of two ways. 1) I can make up my own alien, and try and go from there OR 2) I can cross this over with Invader Zim and use those characters and use a plot I've had written in my notebook for months that would pretty much work perfectly in this fic. Now, if I go with 1, the updates will take more time and will be shorter because I would be winging it, whereas if I used 2 it would be easier for me to write and I would get more done faster. Just saying.

Since this sequel is because of you guys, I'll say this as well. You can choose which path to take and I will take every review into deep consideration.

Yes, Sam and Tucker will show up this time. Yes, there will be DannyxSam hints but not much romance. Hope you enjoyed chapter one.

EDIT: 7-22-06 Okay guys, I made my decision, go on to chapter two to read what happened and don't send reviews asking for choice one or two. It's already written. Thanks!


	2. Enter: ZIM!

Well, when I take into account the 'Go for IZ' and 'do whatever you want' reviews I got I felt to go out for that. If it sucks real bad, I'll redo it. For now, it's the IZ crossover. Oh and, Zim won't be the main villian XD not for very long anyways. He's too incompitent to make into a real villian in that kind of sense. I got bigger plans for him anyways.

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Not long after Danny made the call, the Titans touched down right outside the area. Danny saw this and floated over as they climbed out of the jet.

Beast Boy was the first to land on the Earth. "Oooooh man!" he groaned, stretching his arms above his head as Cyborg jumped to the ground behind him. "Eight hours in the jet," he sighed. "Eight hours! That's like… I don't know," he admitted. "But it's like something and that something is bad."

"Your ability to make metaphors amazes me," Raven said sullenly as she floated to the ground.

Beast Boy gave Raven an annoyed look while Robin, Danny and Cyborg held in laughter. Starfire floated over to try and cheer the green Titan up. "Well, the making of metaphors is not that important, is it?" she asked.

Beast Boy's ears dipped. "I was trying to be witty," he admitted slowly.

"It's all right BB," Cyborg said as he slapped Beast Boy on the shoulder. "Your wits are about as sharp as they always are."

"Thank you!" Beast Boy replied happily. He paused and blinked as he mulled over Cyborg's words. "I think…" he added.

Danny laughed as he floated to the ground and lit lightly behind Raven. "Nice to see you guys again," he said earnestly.

Robin walked over and held out his hand, which Danny took. "Nice to be working with you again as well, Phantom," he said amiably. He turned and nodded at the odd obstruction in the middle of the field. "Well?"

"I told you that I saw," Danny assured him. "There's not much room inside between the ship and the force field though.

"Is it live?" Robin asked.

Danny blinked and cocked his head. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"When you touch the force field, does it hurt?" Robin explained.

"Oh!" Danny said knowingly. "That makes sense," he laughed and crossed his legs and grabbed his ankles in an odd looking position as he floated in front of Robin. He then shook his head. "No, I put my hands flat against it and felt nothing. There's a lot of energy making up the force field though. But it doesn't hurt."

Robin stroked his chin and frowned. "This is an enigma," he said slowly. "Someone obviously set up this force field, but there is nothing actually… threatening about it."

"Maybe we should take a look ourselves?" Raven offered. "See what we're up against before we jump to any conclusions."

"That's a good idea," Robin agreed. "All right, Raven I want you to…" his voice trailed off as the force field slowly dissipated. In the middle, a bubble shaped space ship could be seen through the thinning haze. "Never mind then," he finished.

Everything was stock still as everyone looked at the small ship. It was a purple hue and had a strange symbol on the side. Starfire gently landed on the ground next to Robin, frowning. "It looks familiar…" she admitted. "But I am afraid I cannot place it. I am sorry."

"No, no," Robin said softly. "It's all right. Let's just see what's inside first. Phantom, I want you on standby. If anything goes wrong, shield whatever is attacked. Understand?"

Danny nodded and flew up into the air to get a better aerial view. Raven nodded to Robin in a silent decision and followed Danny.

"Follow me," Robin said quietly and the remaining Titans followed him to where the space ship was. They inched closer and closer and peered inside to see what the alien looked like.

Inside, a small, green dog with black markings was curled up on the seat, fast asleep. Robin frowned and peered closer to see that the 'green dog' was something else dressed up in a very bad costume. He could see the zipper.

"What is it?" Raven asked over the communicator.

"I… honestly have no idea," Robin replied. "I can't tell, it seems to be wearing some kind of… disguise."

"A really bad one," Beast Boy added.

"I couldn't see very well," Danny said over Raven's communicator. "I just saw a green dog in a spaceship."

Robin chuckled. "Well… it's safe to say that it's probably not from Earth. Although, I'm not sure what to try next," he said with a frown.

Just then, the 'dog's' eyes opened and he sat up, looking around. Starfire, Beast Boy, Robin and Cyborg all jumped back and leveled their weapons, ready to fire if need be. The space ship's clear, circular shield opened up and the 'dog' jumped out. It slipped while jumping out and half slid, half fell onto the ground where it lay still.

Danny and Raven floated down, unsure of what to do. Robin motioned to them and they came all the way over to look at the dead looking creature.

"Is it… all right?" Starfire asked hesitantly.

The 'dog' eyes snapped open and it sat up, grinning stupidly. "Hiiiii!" it said cheerfully, waving ecstatically while giggling madly. "I like tacos!"

The Titans were silent for a few seconds before Beast Boy knelt down. "That's uhhh… cool," he replied, having no earthly clue on how to deal with the strange creature. "What's your name?"

The creature blinked once before laughing again and standing up. It came to about 3 feet in height and stood on two legs. Furthering the idea that it was indeed, not a dog. "I like tacos!" it said again and waved both arms sporadically.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked slowly.

"I have no idea," Robin admitted. "Whatever it is… it doesn't seem very smart."

"GIR!" a voice yelled out of nowhere.

All the Titans watched as the disguise came off to reveal a silver robot with cyan markings and a blank expression in its bulbous eyes. A large screen came out of its head and opened up to reveal the image of a green alien with large red eyes and long antennae sticking out of its head. Robin looked around at his team mates who all shrugged or shook their heads.

"Awww, hey master! You look like a silleh monkey!" Gir said loudly then giggled.

The alien's antennae twitched in apparent irritation at his inept robot. "GIR!" he yelled again. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

Gir looked around and then shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I had a nap. It was nice."

"You took MY VOOT!" the alien yelled. "I NEED MY SHIP!"

"Awww, don't be upset master. The flying zoomy thing is fine. And I made muffins!" Gir yelled, producing a muffin from his head and munching on it happily.

The alien rubbed his temples with hands that on closer inspection only had three fingers. "Gir…" he said slowly. "Why did you take my Voot cruiser to begin with?" he asked in an eerily calm voice.

Gir stopped chewing on the muffin for a moment before looking up and shrugged. "I like the muffin!" he said, holding out his half chewed muffin at the projection of the alien.

The alien's antennae twitched once. "You know what? Fine! Whatever Gir! Just STAY THERE while I come to get you and the Voot, understand?"

"What you say?" Gir asked as he finished off the muffin.

"STAY THERE GIR!" the alien yelled. "Stay there like the obedient robot slave you are."

"Awww, but what if I wanna go zoomy again?" Gir asked, pouting like a five year old.

The alien sighed, obviously at his wits end with Gir. "If you stay there Gir, I'll bring you tacos."

"YAY! TACOS!" Gir cheered and nodded. "I stay! I stay for the taco!"

"Of course you do," the alien muttered. "Now, OBEY ME and don't move. I'll be there when I can."

"Okie dokie!" Gir cheered and waved at the alien's disappearing form. When the screen went blank the robot sat down and stared blankly at the sky.

"So………" Cyborg said slowly. "You're…Gir?"

Gir nodded. "Yeup!"

"Who was that?" Robin asked, wondering if Gir was even capable of stringing together a coherent thought.

"That was my master," Gir said in a knowing voice. "He's an Irken trying to take over the planet. But I like the planet. It has tacos and muffins and piggies. I like the piggies."

"He's trying to… what?" Danny asked.

"Dance!" Gir said, waving his arms around. He then stood up and began to dance to some unbearable song that only he knew about.

"Oooookay…" Cyborg said slowly. "Do we believe the insane robot?"

"Irken…" Starfire said slowly.

"You've heard of them?" Robin asked.

"I have heard… rumors," she admitted. "Of an insectoid race bent on galactic conquest. Apparently they send out scouts to planets they intend to conquer and then destroy all its living inhabitants. Of course, we heard this from a star traveler so it was only hearsay."

Robin's expression darkened. "Hearsay or not, we're going to treat this as a possible threat. Everyone, evacuate the personnel and get ready for the arrival of this 'Irken'. Titans GO!"

Gir watched the different humans fly off and clapped his hands at the antics. "Oooooo, like on TV."

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Zim flew into the clearing where he had tracked Gir and his Voot. It was an abandoned area and he was able to breathe a sigh of relief as he landed his backup Voot. "Good, the pathetic human race did not notice anything. My secret is safe…" Zim grinned right before he burst into maniacal laughter.

"Well then, that answers our question about whether or not he's evil," Cyborg muttered into his communicator.

"All right, on my signal…" Robin said softly. "Ready and…"

Zim's antennae perked as his Pak picked up several signals around him. He knew there were transmissions being issued, but he couldn't tell from where, or who. He sunk down low, ready to use any means to defend himself.

"MASTER!" Gir yelled happily and flew into Zim's side, knocking the hapless alien over. Zim began to curse as the hyper robot hugged his master in a painful looking embrace. "You bring the taco?"

Zim gasped for breath and glared at his robot. "GIR! You daaaare knock over your master!"

"Taco?" Gir asked.

"Quiet Gir, I think we're being monitored," Zim hissed. "The taco will come later, just… shut up."

Robin nodded and all the Titans came out from behind various shrubs and in Danny and Raven's case, thin air, in a circular formation around Zim. "That's the least of your worries," Robin told him, grinning.

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Well, if you hate it, all I can say is, don't read it and pretend Faith and Trust has to sequel. For the rest of you, I have this to offer. I am going to be using some plot points and ideas that were brought up in the 'cancelled' episodes of Invader Zim. I plan to outline them VERY clearly and explain everything as best I can. However, if you would like to research these things on your own, or find out for yourself where they came from, I suggest going to thescarymonkeyshow dot com and looking up 'Cancelled Episodes' there you will find the scripts for the episodes I plan to use. Namely: I plan to take from 'The Trial' and 'Ten Minutes to Doom' so when I say stuff, don't say 'OMG that never happened!' because it probably did.

If I DO use my own ideas, it'll be really obvious. AND if you just don't care, pretend Zim, Gir, Minimoose, Dib (probably Gaz, The Tallest, Skooge and Tak as well) are all OC's and that this is whatever. Because trust me, I won't leave anything unexeplained XD it's the only way to handle this.

Also, on the Danny Phantom bit. I KNOW lots of things have happened since Faith and Trust came out. Truthfully, Danny's personality has also changed quite a bit. However, because Faith and Trust was an AU and he was his 'shy not really liking the whole power thing' self from season 1 in it, he hasn't had the luxury of getting all his tasty development from seasons 2 and 3. SO here's what I'm gonna do, I'm going to try and develop his personality in a suitable way while keeping it from looking like there was this drastic change. In order to do so, a good portion of this fic will take place at school, at home, with Danny interacting with his friends, parents, teachers, the Titans (and Zim to a degree)

What this means is that in order to get in everything I want, this is going to end up being one long ass fic. So I don't want any reviews saying there's too much focus on Zim, or on the Titans or not enough on them or too much on Danny or what have you. I swear it will even out but you have to give it time for each arc to get done. Yes, this first arc is Zim centric to get the... plot moving. I.E. I need to set up a few things so that before Danny's arc it doesn't look like I abandoned the actual plot of the fic. Which should be rolling around in 2 or so chapters.

Whew, that's a lot of author's notes! Hope you read all them as they're all very important. Thanks for beleiving in me and I can't wait to see how this will turn out. Hugs and kisses to all who reviewed!


	3. What is trust?

Zim narrowed his eyes and took a few steps back from the taller human. Gir giggled and latched onto Zim's arm, but didn't say anything. "What do you want, filthy human?" Zim snarled. "And why on Irk are you dressed like that? You look like one of those silly humans ready for that HORRBILE holiday of TERROR AND DOOM, Halloween."

The Titans were still for a bit, trying to process Zim's odd way of talking and the question. Finally Robin decided to answer. "I'm Robin, and I'm leader of the Teen Titans," he said calmly.

Zim's antennae raised slightly, but his battle stance did not change. "That sounds stupid," he said flatly. "You all look like some crazed rock band or something," he pointed out.

"Dude!" Beast Boy yelled, obviously annoyed. "We're not a rock band, we're super heroes!"

"Like on the TVs!" Gir cheered and tugged on Zim's hand like a hyper five year old. "Mastah! They're from the TVs!"

"What?" Zim asked, having no earthly clue on what Gir was trying to say.

"We're people with super powers who save the world," Cyborg told the confused alien. "And sometimes we're shown on TV. What, does the insane little robot watch a lot of TV or something?"

Zim sighed exasperatedly. "Yes…" he replied sullenly. "He does. But what does that have to do with this? Why are you here! I, ZIM have not done anything wrong!" He paused and grinned. "Yet."

"You are an… Irken, are you not?" Starfire asked tentatively.

Zim looked at the girl who was floating in front of him and narrowed his large red eyes. "Yes…" he said slowly. "You are not human…" he said finally. "You're a Tameranian," he hissed.

"I am," Starfire answered, obviously confused.

Zim snorted and shook his head. "So, another alien is on this miserable planet," he sneered. "And I bet you just love it here," he accused, his voice dripping with contempt.

"I do!" Starfire said boldly. "Earth is a wonderful and beautiful place!" she announced and let starbolts glow around her hands threateningly.

Zim laughed and stood up straight, but let Gir keep a hold of his hand. "So, a group of earth BRATS with powers vow to defend this pathetic little DIRT BALL?" he asked. "What, are you Saturday morning cartoon characters or something?"

"I can't believe you've never heard of the Titans," Danny spoke up. "They're all over the news!"

Zim glared at the ghost boy with obvious annoyance and sneered at him. "Zim does not concern himself with the trivialities of this stupid planet!"

"I seen them!" Gir told Zim. "They fly zoomy-like on TV! It's REAL cool!"

Zim's antennae lowered a little and he looked a little annoyed, although he did not look at Gir. "Gir, please, shut up."

"Okie dokie!" Gir said cheerfully and nodded as he stood by his Irken master.

"What kind of Alien Invader are you if you don't look at world events," Danny asked Zim, trying to understand just who they were up against. He almost seemed as incompetent as the Box Ghost, and yet something told him that he was more then what he seemed.

"I look at world events, filthy floating huuuuuman!" Zim sneered at Danny. "However, your media sources LIE constantly and so it is hard to tell what is REAL and what is not. Therefore I read however I do not believe."

Raven shrugged. "We can't argue there," she noted. "He's right about that."

"Sadly," Robin sighed. He looked back at Zim and narrowed his eyes. "Fine, then who are you and why are you here?"

"Have you not been LISTENING?" Zim yelled outrageously. "I am the MIGHTY Irken Invader ZIIIIM! And I am here to weaken the defenses on this PATHETIC dirtball you call a planet and take it over for the sake of my EMPIRE!"

"Not very smart, is he?" Raven asked Danny who was floating next to her.

Danny laughed, somewhat amused at the tiny green Irken. "No," he admitted. "But he's no worse then the Box Ghost."

Raven blinked. "Who?"

"I've never told you about the Box Ghost?" Danny asked. "He's a ghost who flies around yelling 'Beware! I am the Box Ghooooost!'" Danny mimicked his silly enemy lowering his voice and sounding as silly as possibly. "He can control boxes," Danny added wisely. "And Bubble wrap," he finished, before laughing outright.

Raven blinked at Danny and shook her head slowly. Cyborg, who was listening in laughed outright. "I think we all end up with a 'bad guy' who is just plain easy to defeat. But they keep coming back somehow."

"I know!" Danny replied knowingly. "He just won't… stay in the ghost Zone."

Beast Boy chuckled. "Oh well, at least he's easy to defeat," he said optimistically.

"True," Danny admitted.

Just then, a laser shot came out of nowhere and flew dangerously close to Starfire's head. Everyone looked back to see Zim with some kind of thin metal spear protruding from his back and smoking at the end. Obviously he had been the one to shoot the warning shot. "HEY! Are you pig monkeys done ignoring ZIM YET?" Zim yelled angrily, obviously very offended that he was not being taken seriously as a threat.

Gir giggled and clapped his hands. "Pig monkeys!" he cheered.

"He is armed!" Robin yelled in surprise. He was sure he detected no weapons on Zim's person when the alien touched down.

Zim sneered and three more metal tubes, much like the first one came out of his back and the alien used them to push himself into the air. The tubes bent in three places, so that when he was supported by them, they looked very much like spider legs. The alien launched himself into the air, leaving Gir on the ground to cheer for his master as he came dangerously close to slicing Raven with the glowing lasers on the ends of the 'spider legs.'

As Raven dodged the homicidal alien, she noticed that the legs weren't coming from his back, but they were actually coming from a small, circular device that was attached to the alien's back. It was no bigger then a conventional back pack and it appeared that the legs were coming from inside of it, which left the question, what else could come from it. She intended to not find out and prepared to attack the Irken's small pack like device without a second thought. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she yelled, sending a jet of black power at Zim's back.

Zim turned around in mid air and straightened the legs out on either side of him. A circular shield formed around his person and protected him from Raven's blast. However, because he was in mid air and unable to adjust his pack-like device to fly quickly enough, the blast propelled him into the ground where he lay, still covered by his force field. Dust and sand came up from the blast and covered Zim from view while Gir ran over to the fallen alien.

"Master!" Gir squeaked and ran into the fray, not caring about anything going on around him.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Zim yelled as the dust settled. He was standing, although somewhat shakily and he was still covered with his force field.

"Master!" Gir yelled again and took a step forward.

Zim glared at his robot. "Gir, this is a direct order! Do NOT come over here, do you understand? This is ZIM'S battle."

Gir frowned but backed off as Zim turned back to the Titans. "Not bad," he said haughtily as he straightened up. "For a HYUUUUU-MAN!"

Robin pulled out his Bo-staff and stood in front of his team. "He's not bad either," he muttered. "We don't know what he can do. Be careful."

"I think I can get past his shield," Danny said softly, looking at the purpleish haze that was covering Zim.

"Aim for the thing on his back," Raven told Danny. "I think it's his source of power."

"All right," Robin said. "Cover Phantom and distract Zim. Phantom, we're counting on you."

Danny gave the rest of the Titans a small grin. A few months ago and he would have laughed at the idea of being a part of a team, or even being with other heroes. And yet, here he was, fighting alongside the Titans against a silly alien who thought he could take over the planet. Sure it wasn't the most epic of adventures, but somehow, being a part of a team made Danny feel good in a way he never expected. He was being depended upon to help and he was trusted to do it right. And the fact that he was trusted and counted on as a team member had an effect on Danny that the Titans would probably never understand.

When you spend the first few months of your super hero carrier in the shadows and the next few months viewed as some kind of monster, acceptance and faith in his person meant all the world to the teen. He was someone when he was with the Titans. He was Phantom, and he knew he had people depending upon him, which kept him from making some of the reckless decisions that he made when he was alone. This was why he was so proud that he was a Titan. Not because it made him a hero in the world's eyes, but because it made him a hero to people he viewed as heroes. And that meant more to him then anything else.

"Titans, go!" Robin yelled, giving the age old signal to the rest of the team. Starfire and Raven fired off a few of their attacks at Zim, temporarily blinding the Irken as he tried to stave off the powerful blasts with his shield. Danny flew up behind him and went invisible and intangible and flew in past the shield.

"MASTER!" Gir yelled as Danny's hands began to glow a bright green color. "No! Don't hurt my master!" Gir whined as small jets of flame came out of his feet. Obviously the robot was built with the ability to fly, which came as a surprise to more then one Titan.

Zim's force field gave out at that moment and Gir flew into Zim's side, knocking him out of the way of Danny's attack. Danny's attack mixed with Raven and Starfire's combined efforts and created a large explosion.

Danny remained intangible and Raven covered the other Titans with her own power. Danny flew over to where the other Titans were and shook his head. "The robot thing knocked Zim out of the way before I could land a clean attack."

"Obviously it's very loyal," Robin frowned. "I don't like to say this, but maybe we should try a take out Gir before we attack Zim again."

"He!" Zim's voice snarled.

The other Titans turned to see the dust settle from the explosion. Everyone went still, surprised at the scene in front of them. Zim was curled around his robot protectively and covered with his force field. He had his head up and he was glaring at the Titans with obvious fury in his eyes. "Gir is a he!" he snapped again. Slowly Zim stood up and Gir whimpered, hiding behind his Irken master. "And you will PAY!" he said slowly, deploying his spider legs and focusing a ball of energy between the four points.

"Why does a ruthless alien bent on taking over the planet care about a robot he practically called a slave a few minutes ago?" Raven asked quietly.

"Who knows?" Robin asked. "More importantly, we don't have the time to speculate. We have to end this. Now."

* * *

All right, there you have it. I hope I explained everything well enough to the people who don't know Invader Zim as well as others. His 'Pak' or the thing on his back will get an explenation soon, too. I promise. Also, to counter 'Zim's not acting very IC' about the whole Gir thing. Actually, as I see him, he seems to be rather fond of Gir, just not too open about it. So, if Gir was about to get blown up in a horrible explosion I think he would protect him like that and get rightfully pissed off. This is to show the Titans that Zim isn't exactly what he seems. And when they learn about the Irken Empire they'll understand how... not irken-like Zim is acting. 

Also, introspective Danny is such a treat to write. XD I looooooooove it when he gets all deep. As immature as he can act some times, he's shown a lot of suprisingly mature decisions in the show. Just thought I'd try my hand at it. Yey Danny! I can't wait to develop him. Something tells me it's going to be a lot of fun.

So, awesome people who read the author's notes, cheers to you and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The plot-plot gets rolling at the end of the next one I beleive. Until next time! Hugs to my reviewers, I absolutely love getting feedback on this. Any ideas or suggestions you may have I'm more then willing to listen to.

Bye for now.


	4. Techie and Goth

Zim glared at Robin and let the laser ball in the center of the four points crackle ominously. "Oh, there will be an end, HUMAN," Zim told him. "Rest assured, it will be your own end, and end of PAIN and DOOM." 

Danny took off into the air and hovered just beyond Zim's peripheral vision and nodded to Robin. Robin took note of Danny's position with a slight nod before turning his attention back to Zim. "Why do you want to take over this planet anyways?"

This question derailed Zim for a second. He was used to Dib yelling at him incoherently, not being asked his motive for doing what he did. Zim paused briefly before narrowing his eyes at Robin and scoffing haughtily. "My mighty Empire has marked this planet for conquest," he announced while he crossed his arms behind his death laser. "I was sent here as an Invader scout to find this DISGUSTING planet's weaknesses and get it ready to be destroyed before the main armada gets here."

"So, you just do whatever your leaders tell you?" Raven asked, catching on to what she hoped was Robin's plan.

Zim nodded as if this was painfully obvious. "Of course. I am an Irken!" Zim told them, as if this fact alone should have cleared up any doubt anyone had about how he worked.

Robin looked a little apprehensive. Apparently using the 'make the underling upset at the big guy' tactic wasn't going to work with the little alien. He had to think of something else, another mind game to play before he could let Phantom attack. He didn't want to hurt anyone or anything any more then he absolutely had to. On top of that, the strange creature had demonstrated that he had the ability to care, or at least have concern for another creature.

While Robin was battling with his conscience, Danny was having similar thoughts of his own. It was perplexing to have an enemy that was more aggressive once that person had something to protect. He had the same problem with Johnny and Kitty. They weren't bad people, just more misguided then anything else. It wasn't as if they were wonderfully good people either. The shades of gray that so often were used to paint the times he went through to do his job were confusing and not always appreciated. He liked it when all he had to worry about was 'another bad guy' as opposed to worrying incessantly about whether or not he was doing the right thing.

Still, a bad person was a bad person and there was no way in heaven or hell that Danny would allow anyone to try and take over the planet without doing something. That much he was sure of. It was just a matter of how powerful Zim was and how much power he was willing to use before he deemed it beyond his comfort zone.

Fortunately for the Titans, or at the very least Danny and Robin, they were saved from this moral dilemma a few minutes later when a loud beeping sound came from Zim's 'Voot' spaceship. Zim looked from the Titans, to his ready attack, to his ship then back to the Titans. You could almost hear his poor brain wondering what to do about the current situation he was in.

Finally, after his ship had continued beeping for about a minute or so, Starfire felt the need to point it out. Just in case. "Irken Zim? I think your ship is beeping."

Zim bit his lower lip as if he was trying to resist something. Whatever he was trying to resist won out in the end and Zim's laser attack dwindled to nothing as he trotted over to his space ship.

Danny and the others were too shocked at this decision to do anything else but stare. The homicidal Irken had simply put away his attack to go find out whatever was going on. Even worse was that when he pressed a large red button and the beeping stopped, a large screen appeared with two taller Irkens dressed in red and purple battle armor appeared on it.

Zim had stopped a heated battle to answer a call. Like those annoying people in the theatre that leave on their cell phones and answer them in the middle of a show. Only this was a life and death battle.

Zim almost looked guilty when he answered this call. "Yes my Tallest?" he asked the two Irkens on the screen.

The Irken in the red armor cleared his throat. "Zim, your presence is requested on the massive, immediately."

Zim's antennae sank a little and he almost looked put out. "But my Tallest, I was in the middle of…" he began before the Irken in the purple armor interrupted him.

"Woah-woah-woah…" he said quickly and gave a short laugh as he cradled his head with a claw as if he was highly amused. "Are you talking back to us, Zim?" he asked jokingly but everyone present could detect a hint of a threatening undertone in his voice.

"Of course not my Tallest!" Zim answered quickly and reassuringly. "I will be there as soon as I am able."

"Good," the red one said. "We expect you here soon. And bring your robots."

"Yes, my Tallest," Zim said authoritatively and saluted the monitor. After the screen went blank he hopped out of the Voot cockpit and glared at the Titans. "You silly Teen Titaniums or Aluminums or whatever you're called, know that you are incredibly LUCKY that this awesome battle of power and might has been stopped. For had it continued you surely would have been defeated by my awesome strength."

No one, not even the wise cracking Cyborg had anything to say to that. It was just so ludicrous that by the time he was ready with a come back, Zim was already halfway into his ship.

"Come Gir! Let us flee this arena of doom and answer to my Tallest!" Zim announced in an exaggerated voice before jumping into his Voot and lifting into the air. Danny turned quickly to see Zim pick up the extra Voot in some kind of tractor beam before flying off into the distance and disappearing quickly.

Danny sunk slowly back to Earth and lit gently next to Robin. "That was…" Danny searched for the right word to describe the sheer insanity of what just happened, but his limited vocabulary came up short.

"Interesting?" Beast Boy supplied weakly, adding a chuckle at the end.

"You could say that," Cyborg agreed.

"That was annoying," Raven said darkly. "I'll be glad if we never fight him again."

"Sorry Raven," Robin told the tall girl. "He… is a threat. Or at least, I think the idea of him calling a giant armada of war ready aliens is a threat. As such, we should probably research this more."

"Well, I'll have to dig a bit but I bet I can find out where his base is," Cyborg supplied.

"Sounds good," Robin agreed. "But if he's leaving for his leaders now, then it we need all the time we can get. Base is pretty far away. Is there any possible way you could do it from our ship?"

"I need more powerful computers then that," Cyborg admitted reluctantly. "Or at least a really powerful little computer."

Danny literally jumped into the air and hovered a few inches above the ground as an idea came to him. "I think I know someone who can help us technologically," he told the Titans. "And he lives in Amity Park too."

"Who is he?" Robin asked Danny, raising an eyebrow at Danny's obvious excitement.

"Them, actually. The computer person of our group is really Tucker, though," Danny explained. He was excited because he finally could show the Titans how he worked. In his town. Not to mention that Sam and Tucker would be thrilled.

Robin exchanged glances with the other Titans and finally nodded to Danny. "Lead the way."

* * *

Danny floated into a park cautiously and glanced around. After he assured himself that no one who he knew was around, he planted his feet onto the ground and waved his arms. "Hey guys!" 

The Titans looked on as a pretty girl with purple eyes and dark black hair pulled into a top knot and a geeky looking African American boy with teal eyes and a red beret stepped out into the clearing. The boy was the first to react. "OH MY GOSH!" he yelled. "It's the TEEN TITANS!"

Danny nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah Tuck. I already explained it, right now we need your tech. Can you calm down enough to track someone?"

Tucker blinked once and grinned. "Of course! I got the best of the best on this baby," he said as he pulled out his PDA. "Latest in any kind of public and private GPS software AND voice controlled tracking system."

Cyborg couldn't resist. He looked over Tucker's shoulder at the sleek device with glee. "Wow! This thing is more advanced then anything out on the market. What did you do to it?"

"I just added a few things," Tucker said modestly while pretending to blush. "Plus I get every new software that comes out. Watch this, I can even pinpoint where we are in about .556 seconds!"

"Ah, boys and their toys," Sam said slowly as she walked over to stand next to Danny. "I especially like how he forgets to mention that when companies send me their promotional stuff, I give it to him to improve his PDA."

Tucker and Cyborg stopped babbling over the small device long enough for Tucker to give Sam a guilty smile. Then he quickly resumed giving Cyborg the virtual tour of his nifty little device.

Robin laughed and held out his hand for Sam to shake. "I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. I hope it wasn't too much trouble to call you out."

Sam shook her head and took Robin's hand in a firm shake. "Nah, anything to get away from my parents. They were trying to talk me into going to some stupid dinner with them. I'm Sam by the way. Sam Manson."

Danny nodded and motioned to her and Tucker. "They're my best friends," he explained. "And they have helped me since day one to capture ghosts and deal with my powers."

Starfire floated over to Sam and clasped her hands together. "Oh, it is wonderful that Phantom has such wonderful friends. Please, may I inquire as to what your favorite color, food, music, pastime and books are and will you be my friend?"

Sam blinked while Danny guffawed by her shoulder. He remembered when Starfire had given him basically the same greeting. "Well, sure," Sam replied slowly. "Uh, black, tofu, Dumpty Humpty, I like to meditate and help Danny capture ghosts, my favorite books are probably anything dark or with a good story and sure. If you don't mind me being goth that is."

"No, I do not mind," Starfire replied happily and smiled. "Yay new friend!" she announced and hugged the poor goth girl.

Sam twitched a little and frowned. "Okay, while the idea is appreciated the affection scares me."

Raven grinned. "Don't worry. Unless you state otherwise this is the only hug you get."

Sam looked relieved as Beast Boy looked ecstatic. "Dude! You like tofu?" he asked.

Sam nodded, "Yeup. I'm an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian."

"Me too!" Beast Boy said happily.

"Oh man, there are more people like you?" Cyborg groaned. He was lending an ear to the conversation and he couldn't pass up the chance to comment on it.

Tucker nodded. "I know, I think she's insane too. Meat is the only way to go."

Cyborg pulled Tucker into a one armed hug and laughed. "I love this guy," he announced. Tucker looked like he was about to faint from happiness.

Robin decided that it was time to step in and continue what they were there for. "All right guys, introductions aside, I think we need get to the reason that we're here."

"Danny only said that he needed us to track something when he called," Sam said. She looked pointedly at Danny who shrugged sheepishly before continuing. "What's going on?"

"Well, we need you to find an alien base," Robin explained. "Or at least a signal foreign enough to be considered an alien base."

Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Alien base? Who are we looking for?"

"We're looking for an alien named Zim," Robin told him. "He's trying to take over the world, and we need to stop it before it gets too big."

Tucker nodded and opened a window on his PDA. "I'll do my best," he said seriously and set to work, with Cyborg looking over his shoulder.

Danny nodded at Tucker and turned to Robin. "He's really reliable, if anyone can find it, it's Tucker."

"Yeah, but don't tell him that or his head will swell," Sam whispered loudly in a joking way.

After about fifteen minutes, Tucker sighed and shook his head. Beast Boy perked his ears and looked over. "Find anything?" he asked.

"No location on Zim," Tucker replied. He pointed at the PDA screen, which was too small for anyone to actually read. "But there are reports filed by someone named 'Dib' who claims that a kid at his school is an alien who is going to take over the world."

Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, and he mentions once that the kid's name is Zim. I'm thinking it's enough that we check out this 'Dib' kid and see what's really going on."

"Sounds like a plan," Robin agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

Okay, here's the next bit! Everyone who read the author's notes, you guys are awesome! And I thank you very much for doing so. To add on more here, the next part of this fic will take place wherever Zim lives and then the next next part will take place in Amity Park. All of Danny's development will take place in Amity. Sam and Tucker are here but obviously they can't tag around for some of the bigger stuff, like the massive space battles I got planned (heh heh) and such. 

Speaking of which, you know if Sam and Tucker ever DID meet the Titans, you know it would happen like this XD That scene has been in my head for literally a year now. I'm glad to finally get it out. So, here's your next part! Hugs to my reviewers, I love you guys. Reviews make me want to write more. Thanks for the motivation.

Edit: okay, I'm noticing that the reviews are going way down. And to me that signifies problems with the story. I won't change the Zim story line because it has a plot already, but if anything else is screwed up or you don't like it, feel free to tell me and I'll see what I can do. It's a bit discouraging to get 10 reviews per chapter then suddenly only get five. I usually take that as a warning XD


	5. Defective

Dib typed furiously at his computer and glared at the screens that refused to yield any information. He knew something big was going to happen and he couldn't find anything on it. Zim was gone from his base and neither Gir nor Minimoose was left behind to defend it. It screamed two things to Dib. One, Zim was called somewhere into space and two, it was obviously so important that he had left his base unattended in order to go. 

If it had been a year or two prior, Dib's first reaction would have been to storm Zim's base and look around. He was over that now and he knew better. It wasn't about what Zim had in his base, it was about where Zim was. If Zim was missing then he was obviously somewhere where he was told to be, meaning he may be getting more orders or worse, more weapons to advance his cause.

Dib shuddered at the thought as he searched in vain for Zim's signal. Zim with his hastily made weapons were bad enough, if Zim was actually given a weapon he didn't create and learned how to use it properly, the world may actually be in trouble. Unless it was another giant robot that needed to be plugged in, that was just stupid.

Dib chewed his lower lip and pressed a few buttons on the floating screen next to him. It beeped for a bit then flashed a red error sign. Dib sighed and got up, stretching his hands over his head and yawning. "Time for a break," he muttered to himself and left his room half-heartedly.

Downstairs he had just finished making some of his dad's 'super toast' and pouring himself a glass of milk when he heard the bell ring. Dib growled in annoyance and set his snack on the kitchen counter. His little sister was out in some line waiting for a new game to come out and his dad was probably off somewhere inventing something to better humanity. Dib rolled his eyes as he went to the door. You would think his dad could do something to better his family before running off to better the world.

* * *

Outside Beast Boy blinked at the drab looking house. "Dude, you sure this is it?" he asked. "I mean this whole town seems kinda…" Beast Boy trailed off as he grasped for a word to explain his thoughts. 

"Off?" Danny offered.

Beast Boy nodded, his pointed ears waggling excitedly. "Yeah! Off. I mean, it's so gloomy and dark and stuff."

Raven shrugged. "We're not here to sightsee, Beast Boy, we're here to gather information."

"I know that!" Beast Boy protested. "I just felt like something needed to be said."

Danny and Cyborg both chuckled at this exchange. Danny felt very at ease when he was with the Titans, even if he was used to working with Sam and Tucker. Unfortunately, because of the possible danger of facing an alien they had asked Sam and Tucker to remain behind for this particular part of the mission. Tucker was still trying to locate Zim, for what it was worth, but there was no need for them to actually be there. As Robin had lightly put it 'We're not ghost hunting, we're going after an alien. And those two things are very different, regardless of what you may think.' In the end, Sam and Tucker had reluctantly agreed and Danny actually felt a little relieved when they did. He didn't know what was coming, and if he didn't know then he didn't know how to protect himself, let alone two other people.

Robin knocked on the door again and he heard an annoyed voice say "Coming, coming," from within. They all watched as the door opened slowly. In front of them was a pale teenager dressed almost entirely in black, except for his shirt that was a pale blue with a gray neutral face in the middle of it. He wore thick glasses and had brown, intelligent eyes. He also had black hair that swooped back in an odd way that almost made it look like he had a hook of hair coming out of his head. The boy was about the same height as Beast Boy, possibly a little taller but not by much.

Robin politely extended his hand. "Hello, my name is Robin, I'm the leader of the Teen Titans. Are you Dib?"

Dib opened his mouth, then closed it again. He seemed almost speechless as he gawked at the Titans.

"A simple 'yes' or 'no' would suffice," Raven told the pasty teen dryly.

"I…" Dib managed to say before his vocal chords shut down again.

"Good job," Raven muttered. "Now, yes or no."

Dib's brain finally regained control of his body after its momentary shut down. "Who are you people?" he gasped, pointing at the Titans.

"We're the Teen Titans!" Cyborg announced. "What? You haven't heard of us?" he asked cockily.

In the back of Dib's mind he remembered reading a few things about a crime stopping group of super powered teenagers but he dismissed it for the same reason that Zim did. The local media sucked and the internet was basically nothing but lies. As a paranormal investigator he choose what to pursue and for some reason some fantastic story about well meaning superheroes didn't register high on his 'investigate' list. He just didn't believe it. For once, his intuition had turned against him and he was feeling kind of bad about it. "No…" he said slowly. "Oh my god! You're green!" he yelled at Beast Boy and then he pointed to Danny, "and you're a ghost!"

"Yes, we know," Raven growled. "Good thing we're on the same page here."

"Are you Dib?" Robin asked again.

"I…yeah…" Dib said breathlessly hardly daring to believe that a ghost, and several other beings that obviously weren't human or at least fully human had practically come to him.

"Good," Robin said authoritatively. "We're here to talk about some claims you've made."

"I can't believe it!" Dib continued, ignoring Robin completely. "And you're an alien!" he told Starfire. "You have to be!"

"I am," Starfire said pleasantly. "Pleased to meet you, Dib."

"Look," Robin said tensely, starting to get annoyed by the overzealous teen. "We're here…" he started but was cut off by a loud beeping noise.

Dib blushed and held up his wrist that had a large watch on it. "Uhh… it's my wireless communicator. It's linked to my computer," he explained and pressed a button. A small projected screen came out of the watch and Dib read it intently. He frowned and closed his watch.

"What did it say?" Robin asked.

Dib looked sharply at Robin. "I don't even know you," he told him suspiciously.

"Does it have anything to do with an alien named Zim?" Robin asked, taking a shot in the dark.

Dib blinked once then looked at all the teens that were standing on his porch. "You're here about Zim," he said finally.

"Way to state the obvious," Raven lauded him sarcastically.

"We are," Robin said.

Dib nodded. "All right then," he sighed and opened the door. "Follow me."

"Why?" Cyborg asked, suspiciously. First the kid was ranting at them and now he was inviting them inside his house.

Dib looked over his shoulder at them and grinned. "I found Zim," he said simply.

* * *

The Titans followed Dib into his room. It was small and about half of it was taken up by a large computer network. There was one large main monitor and one large tower that was surrounded by at least ten floating monitors and other various computer paraphernalia that looked relatively delicate. In all it was a pretty impressive set up. Cyborg whistled. "Nice," he said simply. 

Dib grinned, obviously happy to be praised. "Thanks," he said and pointed to the main monitor. "My computer tracked Zim by his Pak. I think he was called back to be told something or worse, given something to help him take over Earth."

"We can confirm that," Robin told Dib. "He was called back to something called the Massive."

Dib nodded as he typed away on the keyboard and looked around. "Great," he said simply and pressed the enter button. "Let's listen in, shall we?" he asked as the main monitor went blank for a second then a scene of the two tall Irkens that had called Zim and Zim himself with Gir and a new robot that looked like a small floating purple moose behind him. The tall Irkens were standing behind a podium and glaring at Zim. Zim was standing confidently on a platform below them, grinning.

Dib sighed, glad that nothing had happened yet. "Oh, by the way," Dib said slowly. "Why are you after him?"

"Long story," Robin sighed. "Basically, he told us he was going to take over the world and we're going to stop him."

Dib's grin grew larger. "Finally!" he said happily. Before anyone could ask what he meant by that, the tall Irken in red armor began to speak.

"Irken Zim, you are brought before us today for the sole reason of deactivation. Of course our law dictates that we give you a trial but you ruined your last one so we're just going to come out and say it. Zim, as your Tallest, we're going to pass the verdict of defective and deactivate your Pak and erase it."

Dib's mouth dropped wide open. The other Titans looked down at the shocked Teen. "Deactivate?" Danny asked.

"Execution…" Dib said softly. "They're going to execute him."

On screen Zim laughed cockily but everyone could hear a note of panic in his voice. "What are these accusations of being defective?" he asked in a smooth voice. "I am one of the most superior Irkens to ever live! I am loyal and I would do anything for this empire. There is no more you could ask from such a perfect soldier, my Tallest." A small waver at the end of his speech gave away what fear he may have been feeling at the moment.

The purple Tallest scoffed. "Perfect?" he sneered. "You're a disgrace! You've destroyed half of Irk, you've destroyed two satellite planets, you're directly responsible for the death of two Tallest and you… you… care."

"What?" everyone in Dib's room asked aloud. The last one threw them for a loop.

"Precisely," the red Tallest said. "Your programming is defective Zim."

"I care for nothing!" Zim announced. "I am an Irken soldier! My loyalty only lies in my planet!"

The red Tallest sneered. "Fine, tell you what Zim, I personally will give you Invader status, drop all charges AND give you whatever you ask for in order to take over your enemy planet if you do one tiny thing for me."

"Really?" Zim asked, his eyes filling with hope.

"Red…" the purple Tallest muttered.

"Chill Purple," the smooth talking Tallest replied. "I've got this covered." He cleared his throat and pointed at Zim dramatically. "All you have to do, to prove your loyalty is deactivate you robots and take an official SIR unit as your aid."

Dib opened his mouth, then closed it, hardly daring to believe what he was witnessing.

"Master…" Gir whimpered. The small moose squeaked sadly and lowered a few inches.

Zim looked petrified. "I…" he said slowly.

"If you are an perfect Irken, you need perfect tools," Red said, grinning at the panicking soldier. "Your robots are defective, and so if you were to accept my offer you would need a new one."

Zim swallowed hard and looked down at Gir and Minimoose. "I…" he said again. He lowered his gaze and tightened his hands into fists as his Tallest exchanged smug grins.

"He can't…" Dib said softly, watching the Irken come to terms with his new fate. "Damn it," he hissed.

Zim shook his head and glared at his leaders. "I refuse!" he snapped, resolutely and pulled something small and circular from his Pak. "And I refuse to be deactivated! I AM ZIM!" he yelled and threw the ball into the middle of the floor where it exploded. A second later the monitor went blank.

"Well…" Beast Boy said slowly. "Who…wants pizza?" he asked, trying to break the tension.

* * *

This chapter was a bit dark but Dib's little rant at the beginning hopefully offset some of the angst. However the next chapter isn't... happy, at all. Good news thought! We're about three chapters from mindless Danny and Sam fluff filler! Yay! (I can't wait to write it X3) Plot comes next chapter, thank god. This is the climax of the first arc, so enjoy it XD this is about dramatic as poor Zim can get. 

Also, coming up, Titans filler too. Because I just saw the movie and the ending made me 20 kinds of happy. I won't spoil anything but I will say that it was AWESOME. Now if DP had a movie like THAT as its finale I would die a happy, happy, fangirl. Because... damn.

Beware the character development! And... possible OOC ness in the next chapter. Zim won't take this well, and a few more things have to be set up before I have the cute scenes. So, hope you liked this chapter. I love everyone who reads the author notes! Thank you for your crit, it helps me soooooo much. I love the reviews that I'm getting for this story. They are well thought out and help me write the story. So all suggestions or even if you really liked something or hated it tell me. If I know what I'm doing right, chances are I'll do it again and if I know what I'm doing wrong I'll avoid it.

Hugs to all my reviewers! See you next chapter.


	6. End of Part 1: Revelation

"Smooth," Raven muttered as Beast Boy laughed nervously. 

Danny frowned and gazed at the blank screen looking rather concerned. "Is… he going to be all right?" he finally asked.

Dib bit his lower lip and shook his head in a non-committal way. "I honestly have no clue," he admitted. "Knowing Zim… probably. But…"

"I do not understand," Starfire said softly. "How could life mean so little to them?"

"I don't know," Robin replied gravely. "But I don't think that's what we should worry about," he said slowly and paused. He crossed his arms and took in a deep breath waiting as if he was thinking about each word he was about to say. "If he comes back here, we may have to get ready to defend Earth, even if it means fighting him."

Danny shifted uncomfortably. He hated when he had to think about things like this. There was always something, or someone that he had to fight that he didn't want to because of who they were. Valerie Gray was a good example. The pretty teen was smart, cunning and most of all, she had a will to match Sam's, but because of her hatred of ghosts, time and again Danny had been forced to fight her. He always held back, for fear of hurting her but there was a problem with that. She was a good fighter. So holding back and keeping his own butt safe was hard to do and it all boiled down to the fact that he just couldn't bring himself to fighting her.

Another good example was his parents. Yes, his mother no longer attacked him, but that was because she knew. His dad didn't, and in order to keep his secret safe his mom had to pretend she didn't know when she was with Jack. So, whenever they met and ghost hunter and ghost out on the battle field, nine times out of ten he would be forced to defend himself against his dad's sporadic shooting and his mom's half hearted attempts. It wasn't something he enjoyed very much.

Robin noticed Danny's shifting and put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Sorry Phantom," he murmured so that no one else could hear. "But you know what it takes."

Danny nodded, "Yeah," he conceded. "Still…"

Robin sighed, "I know. It's not something we want to do, but it is something we have to prepare for."

Dib continued to type away at his computer as the rest of the Titans looked slightly uncomfortable at the change of events. Outside, a steady patter of rain could be heard on Dib's window. It was light and soft but the dreary sky only added to the painful feelings inside the room.

Dib gazed at his screen and blinked. "Wow, he's already back inside the atmosphere," he said in surprise. "The Massive must have been pretty close by."

"Or Zim did some pretty risky driving to get back," Robin suggested.

Dib sighed and stood up. "Probably a combination of both," he muttered and grabbed a black umbrella standing by the door. "If you care then you can come with me if you want. I think I know where he's going to go. Or at least, I can figure it out by tracking him on my handheld," he said with a little grin as he held up the device.

Robin nodded and the rest of the Titans gave their silent consent as well. It was better to assess the situation then attack if needed. No one felt like fighting at the moment and so it was something they wanted to avoid.

Dib opened up his umbrella with a loud 'shoop' sound and Raven kindly offered the other Titans protection from the rain with her power. Dib looked at the power and felt his mouth drop open.

"Yes?" Raven asked.

Dib blinked at her power and shook his head, trying to focus at the problem on hand. "Uhh… demon?" he asked.

"Half," she answered stiffly, prompting Dib to drop the subject, which he did.

They walked through the drizzle to a small park that was placed in the middle of the neighborhood. Dib stopped suddenly and glanced down at his handheld and looked around. He apparently found what he was looking for and put the handheld back into his pocket.

Robin and the Titans glanced where Dib was walking towards and stopped, letting Dib handle the current situation. Zim had seated himself on the curb with no disguise underneath a tree that offered him some protection from the drizzle. Every once in awhile a large drop would fall from the tree above and land on him, causing a painful sounding hiss and some smoke to appear. Every time this happened, Zim flinched but made no move to get out of the way of the rain.

Dib walked over and held the umbrella over Zim's head and stood beneath it himself. Another drop fell from the tree and made a dull 'plink' sound as it hit the top of Dib's umbrella. Zim looked up, but never looked at Dib, likewise, Dib stared straight ahead, never letting himself look at his worst enemy.

"I take you SAW what just occurred, you filthy stink monkey," Zim hissed finally.

Dib took in a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah," he answered.

"And because you are a FILTHY huuuuuman of disgusting things, you have decided to take pity on the pathetic little alien as your idiotic emotions dictate," Zim continued.

Dib's lips twisted in a frown. "I came out here to get the whole story, space boy."

"You saw the whole story," Zim muttered, drawing his knees up to his chest and glaring at the rain. "I am a defective, and because of that I should not exist."

"So now what?" Dib asked. "You're going to sit here in the rain feeling sorry for yourself?"

Zim snorted. "First of all, dirt child, I am sitting here because the rain caught me by surprise. I WAS just walking around, seeing if you were out here so we could have an awesome battle of DOOM to take my mind off things, and then it started to rain. So I went under the tree. Second of all, I don't feel anything right now," Zim said softly.

"What makes you think I don't want to fight you?" Dib asked.

"Because if you did you would take out your stupid little gun and attack first, like you always do," Zim answered simply.

"Fine," Dib sighed heavily and continued to stare straight ahead. "I'll ask again, now what?"

"Well, if you think that I'm going to give up trying to take over this planet of filth, then you are deluding yourself, you disgusting human," Zim snarled.

Robin looked slightly upset as Zim said this, he did not want to fight the Irken any more then Danny did, but it seemed that it would be inevitable.

"So you're going to keep on trying to take over the world?" Dib asked.

Zim nodded, "That's what I just said, stupid huuuuuuman."

Dib sighed but looked a little relieved. "You know I'll just have to stop you, then."

Zim grinned, looking quite devious. "I look forward to it, Dib stink."

Danny looked vaguely confused at this exchange. "It's like… they want to fight," he said quietly.

Cyborg shrugged. "For all we know, they do," he said softly. "We don't know how they act, we barely know them. Maybe they want to fight, and maybe they're not serious about it."

"That is very… odd," Starfire said softly. "I do not understand."

"It's okay," Robin replied. "You don't need to worry about it."

Zim stood up and turned around, glaring at the Titans. "It's not my fault that your puny minds cannot comprehend how my incredibly AWESOME mind works, human filth. However, you do not need to care about how I do my own things because it does not concern you"  
All the Titans stared back numbly as Dib tried not to laugh. "We're you guys talking?" he asked.

Robin nodded, "Uh, yeah. I didn't think…"

"My hearing is far superior to your PATHETIC human range. I could hear everything," Zim said dryly.

"Um, you don't have any ears," Danny pointed out.

Dib snorted and began to laugh as Zim glared at Danny. "That does not mean I can't hear, floating…person thing."

"Ghost," Dib and Danny said together. Danny smiled at Dib who shrugged sheepishly. "I'm half ghost," Danny explained.

Zim shrugged, obviously not caring about this at all. "Whatever," he muttered.

"Well, now that everything is done I guess we should go," Robin said.

"You will be all right, Irken Zim?" Starfire asked.

Zim's antennae twitched as he looked at the Tameranian. "I have no need for your pity or concern, Tameranian."

"But I wish to give it," Starfire pressed gently.

Zim glared at her. "I am Zim," he said simply. "There is no need to worry about my well being, I am far superior to beings such as yourself and therefore there is no point in caring." With that Zim left the shade of the tree and walked out into the mist. He winced as the thick air hit his skin and did not react to it. He did his best to look as stoic as he possibly could as he walked away.

Dib shrugged, looking obviously amused. "Eh, don't worry about. Zim is a moron but something tells me he'll bounce back soon."

"So do you hate this guy or what?" Cyborg asked. "I thought he was your enemy."

"He is my enemy and yes, I do hate him," Dib answered.

Everyone stared at Dib blankly and the Teen blushed. "It's complicated," he sighed. "Don't worry about Zim though. I'll take care of things over here. I've done it for years," he said with a grin.

Robin nodded, "All right. If you need help though, feel free to get in touch. The last thing we need is for this planet to be attacked by someone we should have an eye on."

Dib laughed. "It's not hard to beat him," he said. "But thanks, I guess. I can't say I've ever had anyone offer me help. How should I call?"

Robin pulled a yellow and black disc out and handed it to Dib. "It's a communicator," he explained. "If you need help, call."

Dib nodded, looking a little happy. Danny remembered when he got his own communicator and wondered if Dib felt the same way that he did. A sense of belonging.

As Dib walked away, Cyborg looked at Robin. "You sure?" he asked. "You've been handing out a lot of those things lately."

Robin nodded. "I'm sure. We need to have eyes and ears everywhere," he told Cyborg. "Otherwise something will slip past us and we'll end up regretting it."

Danny laughed. "I can't see that alien slipping past anything."

"More like running past and setting off fireworks," Beast Boy added, prompting the boys to all laugh.

"You can never be to careful," Robin said finally.

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Definitely," Danny said.

* * *

Up in space, just out of reach of any tracking equipment on earth, a small spaceship sat, hidden by a cloaking device. "He has returned to Earth, my Tallest," a woman spoke into her communicator. 

Tallest Red grinned. "Of course he did. Where else would he go?"

"Orders?" the woman asked.

"Stay where you are, soldier. We'll give you your orders once we set up a few things. We'll take over that planet and any surrounding it while deactivating that eyesore. But we must have patience."

"Yes," Purple nodded behind Red. "Patience."

"Yes, my Tallest," Tak said with a grin as she saluted the monitor. Soon she would get her chance. Very soon.

* * *

Aaaaand here is the end of part 1! Yaaaay! Now we go to fluff and comedy while the Irken empire sets up for its attack. (So does the resisty but that comes later.) Basically, the poor planet gets caught in this huge intergalatic war and Zim could care less, he just wants to rule the planet on his own. Dib, Danny and the Titans are trying to save it and a few other suprises. Look! There's the rest of the story! (only not) 

Someone was concerned that Zim would become a 'good guy'. Rest assured, he doesn't. He just doesn't think of himself as an irken soldier anymore. He sees himself as being too good for answering to anyone. So, he's a bad guy and he only thinks that he is fit for Earth conquest. Ah... poor deluded Zim.

Dib gets better with time. He's like the only person who gets half of what is going on. No, he's not a Titan. He doesn't even know what having a communicator means yet. He just sees it as means of talking to the Titans. Make sense? When Danny was given his, he understood. He knew he was being asked to join the Titans. Dib doesn't and Robin knows this. So right now all that thing does it let Dib contact the Titans and vice versa. Later he may learn what it means but right now it's just a tool. (I was worried I may have pissed someone off with that scene. If I did I'm sorry but I couldn't think of any other way to handle that)

So there you go! End of part one! Bring on the FLUFF! And thanks for reading the author's notes. As always hugs to all my reviewers and I can't wait to see you in part two.


	7. Part 2: Speculations

Danny woke up the next morning, tired and sore from the long flight back home. Because the Titans lived a good 70 miles away from his town, he had insisted on flying home himself, but now he regretted the decision figuring that Cyborg could have handled the extra fuel it would have taken to get him home. 

Danny got out of bed and stretched his arms high above his head while yawning. He winced at the pain in his back and shoulder muscles, wondering just how his flight worked if it could make him so sore. After stretching a bit more to loosen a few of the kinks out of his back and arms he pulled on his clothes and walked out of his room. A second after he stepped outside of his room his mother stood there, arms crossed and a small frown on her face. Danny looked back, surprised and a little worried. "Yes?" he asked sheepishly.

"I know you checked in yesterday but you were gone a lot longer then a few hours," Maddie hissed softly and looking around. Two doors down the hall Jack came out grinning like he always did and toasted them with a can of soda. Maddie sighed and steered Danny downstairs while waving to her husband.

Danny slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand as they went downstairs. "Oh mom… I'm sorry," he whispered back.

Maddie shook her head exasperatedly as she steered her son into the kitchen and turned on the stove. "Danny, I know it's hard to keep up with things once you're out there and fighting but I still like to know where you are. You didn't get home until past midnight! Now I know that you were with the Titans and I'm sure whatever you were doing was important but I still have expectations and one of them is that you will tell me where you are."

"I know mom," Danny mumbled as he watched his mom crack eggs over a porcelain bowl. "And I'm really, really sorry."

Maddie sighed and turned to face Danny as she beat the eggs in the bowl. "Honey, it's all right if you're late and it's all right if you can't always make it to everything but not knowing where you are and if you're okay is something I can't handle." Maddie gave Danny a small smile and turned around again. "I'm sure that you're aware that as long as you uphold your promises to me that I'll never expect more then I should from you, right?"

Danny looked to the side and nodded. "Yeah mom."

Maddie added a few other things to the bowl and then began to mix it. "So, can I ask what you were doing and where you were last night?" she asked finally.

Danny looked up and gazed at his mother's back. He then shrugged and realized that she couldn't see it. "I went to a small town a few states over. There was a danger of an alien take over but everything should be fine now. We have someone in the town to keep things in check."

Maddie looked a little surprised as she turned to face Danny. Danny smile and gave her a small shrug. Maddie shook her head and sprayed the pan on the stove with cooking oil. "Just a normal day for you?" she asked.

Danny laughed and put his head in the palm of his hand as he rested his elbow on the table. "I wouldn't say normal…" he said slowly.

Maddie poured the batter into the pan and watched as it sizzled. "Interesting villain or interesting new ally?" she asked.

Danny let out a slow breath and shook his head. "Both," he said finally. "The new 'ally' is this short kid who dresses all in black, he's really… odd but he has this amazing computer set up in his room that is almost as good as Cyborg's. His name is Dib."

Maddie quirked an eyebrow as she flipped the pancake. "Dib? Computers… hmmm… did you get a last name?"

Danny leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Umm… Cyborg mentioned his dad… I think. Something really weird too… like a body part or something."

"Membrane?" Maddie asked.

Danny sat up and nodded. "Yeah! That's it. Why? Have you heard of him?"

Maddie nodded as she set the pancake onto a plate and poured out more batter. "Professor Membrane is a genius among geniuses. He is brilliant and is quite certainly one of the leaders of our time, however he is a very… strange man. I read that he had a son and a daughter with rather strange names, Dib was one… the other, Gaz I think."

"Huh," Danny said. "Cyborg looked puzzled as he researched Dib's dad but I left soon after so I didn't ask about it."

Maddie nodded and flipped the second pancake. "Well, if he truly is that man's son and has the kind of set up you described then you can be sure he's a very smart child."

Danny laughed and nodded. "Oh, I had no doubt. He's just… kinda weird."

Maddie set the two pancakes in front of Danny and smiled. "Well, don't judge before you know. No matter who it is, sweetie. You never know what is going on in someone's head regardless of their actions."

Danny nodded and immediately drowned his pancakes in syrup. "Oh, I know. He was pretty cool it's just that he acted pretty weird. Besides, he can't be any more weird then some of the people I've met up with."

Maddie nodded as she returned to the stove. "And? You mentioned a villain, what happened to him?"

Danny sighed and shook his head. "I… don't know," he said slowly. "I'm still confused about it."

Maddie frowned as she flipped the pancake. "Want to talk about it?"

Danny chewed his syrup with pancakes thoughtfully as he pondered it. Finally he consented to confide in his mom. "Well, he was the alien who was trying to take over the planet. His name is Zim and he's… just… beyond strange."

Maddie chuckled and Danny frowned. "I'm serious mom!"

"I'm sure you are, it's why I'm laughing," Maddie said soothingly. "Go on," she told her confused son.

Danny shrugged and shoveled more syrup and pancake into his mouth. "Well, he doesn't… like people. It's obvious that he wants to take over the world and that he's dangerous but I still don't know what to think. Yesterday we watched as he was basically rejected by his entire planet and then he and Dib… I don't know," Danny said finally. "It looked like Dib consoled Zim in some weird way. I have no idea what went on or anything but I left with the feeling that they were almost friends or something. It was very confusing," Danny said with a frown.

Maddie nodded slowly, smiling. "Honey, the more you stay a superhero the longer this will happen you know."

Danny looked up at his mother, surprised. "What will?"

"Meeting with allies who may not be all good and meeting enemies who may not be all bad. I've never been a superhero but real life isn't black and white like the shows you watched when you were little. People don't fight just because they're evil, and some people don't help because it's the right thing to do. There are motives behind most actions and sometimes it will seem like the bad person is bad when they may not be. Or the other way around. As a hero it's up to you to figure it out," Maddie told him gently.

Danny made a face and stabbed at his soggy pancakes. "I like it when they're just plain evil. Or stupid."

Maddie shrugged and continued to make pancakes. "I'm sure you do. But nothing is like that. Not even my job."

Danny looked at her and frowned, wondering what she meant. Maddie didn't elaborate and so Danny merely finished off his breakfast and stood up, putting his syrup encrusted dish in the sink. "I guess," he said doubtfully. "Well, thanks for the breakfast mom. I'll call if anything happens and sorry about last night."

Maddie nodded. "Its fine, sweetie. Just call next time, please."

Danny grinned and pulled out his cell phone. "Will do," he said and waved. "I'm going to the theatre to meet with Sam and Tuck. I'll be back in time for dinner."

"All right, bye Danny!" Maddie called but when she turned she saw that the door was already shut. Maddie shook her head, smiling. "Always in a hurry to see that girl," she said quietly.

* * *

Danny was tired of introspective thinking and ready to just kick back, forget everything and watch mind numbing violence at the theatre. Sam and Tuck were more then happy to oblige his wishes as they waved at him from the theatre entrance. 

Sam laughed and crossed her arms. "Morning, sleeping beauty. Could you have taken any longer?"

Danny shrugged and gave Sam a sheepish smile. "Mom made breakfast so I stayed to eat some."

Tucker shook his head and put his arm around Danny's shoulder. "Dude, come on. He just flew in from God knows where last night."

Sam rolled her amethyst eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "Tuck, I was kidding."

Tucker grinned wickedly at Sam. "I know, I just like getting you all riled up."

"Play with the fire and you'll get burned," Danny told Tucker wisely.

"What are you, some Buddhist monk?" Tucker asked Danny while laughing.

"I taught him that one," Sam said with a wicked grin. "And I'd be more then happy to teach you."

Tucker looked a little nervous as Sam gave Tucker her best dark grin and gulped nervously. "N-no thanks," he said quickly and held up his hands. "How about we go into the theatre before the movie starts! I'll get the tickets."

Danny shook his head as he watched Tucker scamper towards the ticket booth where a cute girl was selling them. He watched as Tucker put his shoulder against the glass and smile.

Sam stepped up next to Danny and shook her head. "Think there's a girl on this planet Tucker wouldn't chase after?"

Danny chuckled. "I don't know. Maybe."

Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Well, glad to know you don't chase after girls like that."

Danny raised an eyebrow and adopted a clueless look. "Really? Why?"

Sam blushed a deep red and looked to the side. "W-well, you know. Keeping an eye on two girl chasing boys would be too much of an effort for me. It's hard enough to keep you in check with Paulina, let alone every girl you see."

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh… really?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess that's a good thing then."

Sam coughed. "Yeup."

Danny looked at the ground and continued to blush. "Mmhm."

Just then Tucker came over waving three tickets and grinning. "I got us tickets and a date! Or rather, a date for me. Ha, isn't that awesome?"

"What, that poor girl would date you?" Sam quipped, happy for the distraction from the awkward moment.

Tucker scoffed and shook his head. "You just don't understand my personal charm, that's all. Anyways, let's go. The movie's gonna start soon."

Sam smiled and linked her arm through Danny's. "You heard the man. Let's go, I want popcorn," she said and pulled Danny along. Danny looked surprised, then relaxed and played alone.

"But of course. Extra butter," he continued.

"No salt," the two said together and laughed as they went in to the theatre. Tucker rolled his eyes and shook his head as he followed them.

* * *

Yes! Mindless filler fluff! And a Maddie Danny bonding moment. Because the show doesn't have enough of those. 

Sam and Danny are so freaking cute together X3 Ahhh... I can't wait to get on with this. School is tough but I'm pushing along! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also, what Maddie said is very important to the idea I'm trying to push in this fic, so pay close attention to what she says. Hugs to all my reviewers!

Also, please keep in mind that Maddie has known about Danny's powers for a few months now. She and Danny have probably had many talks and at least in my mind, Danny's confided in her a few times for adult help. So, while this conversation may seem out of place, keep an open mind to what the characters have been through already.


	8. Training

"So, who's up for some hardcore gaming time?" Cyborg yelled out as he held up a controller. 

"Oh oh!" Beast Boy popped out of nowhere and waved his hands wildly. "Me, I wanna play. What game?"

"Oh, I dunno, I was thinking maybe my new limited edition of Zombie Planet IV," Cyborg announced with a wicked grin as he pulled the game from behind his back.

"Dude!" Beast Boy squeaked loudly as he stared wide eyed at the game. "Dude! I mean… dude!"

"Yeah, it is pretty sweet, isn't it?" Cyborg asked with a smile. "I waited all morning to get this baby."

"So…" Beast Boy said slowly, looking around and finally putting his hands together in a begging gesture. "Can we play?"

"Oh you bet," Cyborg assured his friend. "Let's kill some undead butt!"

Raven looked up from her meditation corner across the room. "If it's undead then how can you kill it?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged glances and grinned at each other. "With really big guns," they said together.

Raven rolled her eyes then closed them again, preferring the solitude of her mind to the idiocy of the real world.

Cyborg put the game CD into the consul and picked up the second controller. Beast Boy appeared on the couch in a flash holding the first controller and grinning broadly. "Ready?" he asked as he bounced up and down.

Cyborg gave him the thumbs up and sat down next to his green friend on the couch. "Let's kick some Zombie butt."

Robin and Starfire smiled at each other as they heard the two friends obliterate zombies in the game. "What are we looking for?" Starfire asked.

"We're looking for anything about the Irken race and empire," Robin said softly as he tapped away at the keyboard. "I want to know why Zim is here and if there is any possible threat beyond him."

Starfire smiled and put her hand on Robin's shoulder gently. "Well, our friends are engaging in the wonderful activity of the game on video so perhaps we could at least eat breakfast before we work?"

Robin turned to look at Starfire and sighed. "Star…"

"I heard that it is a very important meal," she said softly.

Robin's lips twitched upwards in a smile before he nodded. "All right, but I get to cook."

Starfire jumped into the air happily and floated after Robin as they went to the kitchen.

Cyborg laughed and leaned in to Beast Boy as they continued to game. "You know he had breakfast earlier today."

Beast Boy started to giggle too right before Cyborg took Beast Boy's kill. "Hey!" Beast Boy protested loudly as Cyborg laughed. "That's not fair!"

* * *

Danny looked around the field and waved his hand. "Is it clear?" he called.

Tucker gave him a thumbs up from his end of the field and not long after he heard Sam's voice telling him that her end was okay as well.

Danny grinned and sunk into what he believed to be a cool fighting pose. "Going ghost!" he yelled and closed his eyes as he let the cool, ethereal energy wash over him. When he opened his eyes to look around he saw Sam and Tucker running over to him with their equipment at the ready. "What's that?" Danny asked, pointing at a rectangular device in Tucker's hands.

"Radar gun," Tucker said suavely as he held it up against his shoulder. "It's a different one then what we use in your parent's basement though. This baby can read down to the thousandth to show how fast you are."

"Coooool," Danny cooed, looking at the device with new respect.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Danny, it's a radar gun. Who cares if you can go 179.2463 miles per hour? All that means is that you can go about 179 miles per hour."

Danny and Tucker chose to ignore her as Tucker showed Danny the night light feature of the radar gun.

Sam crossed her arms. "Umm, hello? It's broad daylight. Who cares if it can glow?"

"Well, it's cool," Tucker offered. "And it could come in handy, you never know."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, you're the one always telling us to be prepared, Sam. Tucker is just a little more prepared is all."

"Tucker just wants whatever new toy is on the market," Sam said pointedly. "And you know it."

Tucker shrugged. "Hey, toys are toys, and this toy can tell us how fast Danny is flying PLUS offer comfort on dark and stormy nights. Not that I… need it or anything," he added quickly.

Danny and Sam shared quick smiles. Tucker cleared his throat and held out the radar gun. "Okay, Danny, let's see how much faster you've gotten."

Danny jumped into the air and hovered above his friends for a few seconds before flying off in the opposite direction. When he felt that he had a good distance, he arced around and began flying as fast as he could past the radar gun that Tucker had held out in front of him. Tucker and Sam shut their eyes against the wind that Danny created as he whizzed past them, meanwhile Danny was trying to apply his non existent breaks in mid air.

"Well?" he asked as he floated back over.

Tucker opened an eye and glanced down at the reading. He grinned and gave Danny a thumbs up. "193.423 miles per hour, new record."

"All right!" Danny cheered and shared a high five with Tucker.

Sam grinned and pulled some small balloons out of her backpack as the boys celebrated. Danny and Tucker turned to see what she was doing as she held it out flat in her palm and tossed it in the air. "All right, hot shot, I have a new little training program for you since you seem to be doing so well."

Danny smacked a fist into his open palm and grinned cockily. "Yeah? Bring it on, I can take anything."

Sam grinned sweetly and tossed the purple, palm sized balloon in the air and caught it lazily. "Okay, here's the deal. None of the enemies you have just stand there and take hits. Nor do they just run around. Your enemies will fight back and get you if you're not careful. So, I thought up this little trick to see if you can attack and not get hit. The goal is to blast these balloons which I filled with purple dyed water and not get hit with the colored water. The more water you get on you the worse you're doing, the better you are at dodging and blocking the less messy you'll get. Understand?"

Danny nodded and sat cross-legged in mid air as Sam dumped the rest of the balloons out of her backpack. "Yeah, that's actually a really good idea."

"Thanks," Sam said as she beamed. "I thought of it during home economics class. I thought 'wouldn't it be nice to be able to throw a water balloon at the perfect Mrs. Riles and get that perfect dress soaked."

"You really don't like that class, do you Sam?" Tucker asked his friend warily.

"Hey, not everyone is going to grow up to be little miss perfect house wife," Sam told Tucker tersely. "And I wish she'd realize that."

Danny shrugged. "Well, the idea is cool, at least. And it should help."

Sam pushed some water balloons into Tucker's arms and held one up. "Ready Danny? I'm not going to go easy on you!"

"Come on then," Danny teased as he watched Sam and Tucker prepare to throw the balloons at him.

Danny took in a deep breath right before Sam threw hers aiming for his head. He flipped around and shot it with a small blast and scooted out of the way before the water could get on him. He grinned and turned to his friends. "Hey this is eas…" he began before he was cut off by Tucker's balloon hitting him in the face. "Hey!"

"What was that?" Sam asked while Tucker cackled next to her.

Danny shook the colored water from his eyes and let his hands glow green. "Don't think that will happen again!" he told his friends.

Sam and Tucker lobbed more balloons at Danny in reply and watched as their friend tried to hit them without getting the water all over himself. Then, they threw more at him before he was done dodging, earning them a surprised yelp from their friend.

"Hey!" Danny protested as he got purple water all over himself.

"Your enemies aren't going to be nice and stop shooting," Sam yelled back. "You know that! Now come on, the better you can dodge the fewer bruises you have to hide from your mom."

Danny laughed and brought up his energy blasts again. "Point taken, come on!"

Sam threw another balloon and watched as Danny arced over it and shot downwards at the small projectile. Then he turned around and hit Tucker's balloon before it reached him. She grinned as she lobbed another one at his head and watched while he shot it from below and flew from underneath it in time to fly over Tucker's balloon and hit it as well.

"Getting better," she called.

Danny waved cheekily and she laughed as she threw another balloon at her friend.

Danny backed up and shot it as well, right before he got beamed on the side of the head by Tucker.

Tucker laughed and waved at Danny as the unhappy teen shook purple water from his hair. "Aww Tucker."

"Hey, it's training, dude. Training means you take a few hits and keep on coming," Tucker called up to him.

Sam threw the remainder of her balloons which Danny flew around and blasted quite easily. Tucker threw his as well and in the spirit of 'training' Danny caught them all and began to pelt Tucker with them.

Sam laughed until her sides hurt as Danny chased Tucker around the open field throwing water balloons at him despite the apologies and protests.

"Come on, I was kidding! I'm sorry," Tucker yelled as he ducked his head down.

"You need to train too," Danny replied while laughing. "Maybe you'll get a better grade in PE."

"Danny, come on!" Tucker whined and when he no longer felt the wetness on his back he slowed to a stop and turned around. "Heh, ran out of balloons?" he asked.

Danny floated down to land in front of Tucker. Tucker smiled at his drenched friend and held out his hand. "Truce?"

Danny brought his hand down on Tucker's head and watched as the purple water ran down his face. He smiled cheerfully and nodded. "Truce."

Sam burst out into a new wave of laughter as Tucker glared at Danny. "Come on, I love this hat."

Danny shrugged while still laughing. "At least your hair isn't white."

Tucker mulled this over and began to laugh as well. "True," he said.

"Now," both boys said together as they turned and lobbed their remaining balloons at Sam. "Run!" they yelled and Danny picked up Tucker. They flew away from Sam as fast as they could while laughing and congratulating one another on their awesome prank, hoping that Sam wouldn't catch them before they managed to get home.

* * *

Yay! Pointless filler for the Titans and... semi pointless filler for Danny, Sam and Tucker. Hope you enjoyed, there's a bit more of this before I carry on with the plot.

Hugs and cookies to my reviewers. See you next chapter.


	9. Valentine's Special Titans

Beast Boy sighed heavily as he gazed up at the ceiling of Titan's Tower. "I'm bored," he whined. 

"Then go outside or something," Raven muttered as she settled back into her meditation pose.

"It's raining," Beast Boy answered in a tone as whiny as his first. He then turned and lay across the sofa and sighed dramatically.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Get Cyborg to play a video game with you," she suggested in a dark tone.

"Cy's been messing with the T-car all afternoon and he gets mad whenever I go down there to help." Beast Boy said.

"Maybe you and Starfire could go to the mall?" Raven asked, getting annoyed and desperate to make Beast Boy leave her alone.

"She and Robin are on a date," Beast Boy muttered sullenly as he flipped over to let his head hang over the seat of the couch.

Raven's lips twisted. "Then why don't you go to the mall and find a friend or something?"

Beast Boy didn't even reply to that and instead let out a very long, very obvious sigh. Raven's eyebrow twitched in response but she didn't say anything beyond that.

It was quiet for about ten minutes. The long awkward pause could be felt in the air by both Titans. Then Beast Boy giggled and walked into the middle of the room. He morphed into an elephant and sat down, making the whole building shake a little.

Raven opened an eye and stared at the green elephant sitting in the middle of the room. She thought quietly for awhile and then shrugged. "Okay, I'm sure the pun is horrible but I have no idea what you're doing."

Beast Boy morphed back into his normal self and grinned ecstatically. "Well, it was really quiet and kinda awkward," he said. "Ever hear the expression 'it was like an elephant was in the room?'"

Raven blinked and realized that Beast Boy was being witty. Or at least as witty as he could possibly be. "That's…" she said slowly. Then she smirked and shook her head amusedly. "How stupid."

Beast Boy's face fell and his shoulders sagged. He looked dejected and almost hurt by this comment but he tried to laugh it off. "Well, I had to do something. It was getting so stuffy you know?"

Raven stood up from her meditation and walked over to her friend. "It was stupid, but kind of funny. Maybe," she told him.

Beast Boy's expression lightened as Raven stood in front of him. "Really?" he asked.

"Don't push your luck," Raven told him dryly. Then she looked to the side thoughtfully and sighed. "If you promise to be quiet for another half hour maybe we can go to the mall and get something to eat," she said quietly.

"Really?" Beast Boy asked again, clasping his hands together and grinning madly.

"But you have to be absolutely quiet, understand?" Raven asked.

Beast Boy nodded and morphed into a rabbit. He then jumped onto the couch and hid behind a pillow. Raven turned her back on him so that he couldn't see the slight smile that formed on her lips and went back to her meditation.

* * *

Robin held out his glass to Starfire and smiled. "Cheers?" he asked.

Starfire blinked a few times and then grinned. "Okay," she said. "Yay! Yay! Yay!" she cheered, raising her hands each time she yelled. The other people in the restaurant turned slowly to look at the girl who was yelling and Robin slowly turned a dull red under his mask as he sheepishly held his glass out in front of him.

"Umm… Starfire, what are you doing?" he asked quietly.

Starfire stopped cheering and looked at Robin, slightly confused. "You asked me to cheer, did you not?" she asked.

Robin sat there quietly for a few seconds before it dawned on him. He began to laugh as Starfire continued to stare at him, confused. "Robin?" she asked.

Robin shook his head and set down his glass. "Sorry, Star, I guess I wasn't thinking. Cheers is something that humans do to toast each other. It's kind of… a recognition of sorts. When I asked cheers I meant something completely different."

"Ooohhhh…" Starfire said slowly and then blushed. "Oh no, did I make a mistake?"

"No, no," Robin assured her. "It's okay," he said and smiled at her broadly.

Starfire smiled back and picked up her glass and inspected it. "So, tell me how does one do this cheers?" she asked.

Robin held out his glass again. "Well, you hold out your glass," he explained. Starfire followed suit and held out her own glass. "Then you push them together lightly," Robin continued and gently clinked his own glass against hers. Starfire grinned in delight at the odd ritual.

"Then you cheer?" she asked.

Robin shook his head. "No," he said with a little laugh. "Then you say 'cheers' and take a sip of your drink."

"Oh," Starfire said slowly. "Why do you do this?" she asked.

Robin frowned and thought about it. "Well, I guess we do it to recognize someone or something. A lot of times there's also a toast involved where someone stands up and talks about someone or something he or she wishes to honor. When two people do it, it's kind of like saying 'this is a really good dinner and it would be nice if it happened again.'"

Starfire blushed and smiled. "Oh, that is lovely," she said softly. "You like this, then?"

Robin leaned forward a little and nodded. "I like it very much," he told Starfire. "It's very nice."

Starfire blushed and put her hand on top of Robin's on the table. "Thank you," she said.

Next to them the waiter cleared his throat, jerking Robin and Starfire out of their flirting. Both teens blushed and turned to the man. "Hello," Starfire said politely.

"Hello," the waiter replied. "Do you wish to order?"

Robin nodded and glanced at the menu below him. "Yes," he said. "I would like spaghetti with meatballs please."

Starfire nodded. "I wish to partake of the pizza please. With cheese."

"All right, we'll have that out in a bit," the waiter said helpfully and took away the menus.

Starfire and Robin watched the man walk away before the turned to each other again and smiled. Starfire picked up her glass and grinned. "Cheers?" she asked.

Robin nodded and picked up his own glass, clinking it against hers. "Cheers," he said and took a sip from his drink.

Starfire followed suit and set her glass down. "This means we'll do this again, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Robin told her. "That would be great."

* * *

Cyborg sighed as he tightened a bolt underneath the car. "I can't believe this thing was leveled against Control Freak," he muttered. "Of all the villains we face he was the one that hurt my precious T-car."

"Talking to yourself isn't healthy you know," a voice called out, causing Cyborg to hit his head against the belly of the car.

"Ow!" he yelled and rubbed his head, looking around for whoever it was that called out to him. He rolled out from underneath the car and glanced up at the video com. "Hey," he called out. "What are you doing, calling here Bumblebee?"

The pretty girl grinned and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk in front of her and resting her chin in her hands. "I'm calling to see how you're doing," she said. "I heard your precious car got leveled last week."

Cyborg grinned and walked over. "Now where would you hear something like that?" he asked.

"A loud mouthed cyborg working on a car told me," Bumblebee quipped. "Although not on purpose."

Cyborg shrugged. "You win some you loose some I guess. How are things over at Titans East?"

Bumblebee nodded and glanced around. "Well, the place is still standing," she pointed out. "So pretty good I'd say."

"Have any problems lately?" Cyborg asked. "Any bad guys giving you problems?"

Bumblebee grinned and punched a fist into her open palm. "Nothing that we can't handle, sparky," she told him. "We're big kids too, ya know."

Cyborg laughed and nodded. "I know, I know. Just making sure."

"Aww, is the big Titan of the west worried about little ol' us?" Bumblebee asked in a cutesy voice. "We're flattered."

Cyborg shivered a little. "Don't use that voice, it makes you seem kinda creepy."

"Why? Cause I'm acting like a girl?" Bumblebee asked.

"No, because when I don't know what you're really thinking I get kinda nervous," Cyborg shot back.

Bumblebee laughed outright and shook her head. "Well, I am pretty intimidating when I want to be," she teased.

Cyborg nodded. "But you still can't beat me," he told her.

"I beg to differ!" Bumblebee retaliated in a scandalized voice. "I beat you when we were at the school."

"I let you," Cyborg muttered. "So I could get the information I needed."

"Riiiiiiggghtt," Bumblebee said sarcastically. "Whatever you say, sparky."

Cyborg rolled his eyes and glanced back at the car. "Well, I kind of need to finish this," he sighed. "Never know when something will come up."

Bumblebee grinned. "Okay, sparky. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, you too," Cyborg replied and waved as the screen went blank. Then he turned back to his car, whistling happily.

* * *

Hee, here's your valentine's special a little early. The plot begins again soon I promise but I couldn't pass this up. It just seemed too sweet. Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you guys next time. Hugs and cookies to my reviewers!


	10. And so it begins

Dib sighed and stopped typing for a few minutes as he gazed at his computer screen. The glum blue light that radiated from the monitor hurt his eyes so he leaned back in his chair and closed them for a moment. When he opened them again he glanced at the clock in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The clock read 3:30 in the morning.

Dib yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "Late," he muttered to himself and leaned forward to turn off the monitor. Just before his finger reached the button a light began to flash on the bottom of the screen.

Dib frowned and glared at it, wondering if it was worth his effort to see what it was. Most of the time when the warning went off it was just another asteroid passing one of the satellites he had wired to check for alien activity. Then again, if it was a real threat he would probably end up regretting it the next day.

His tired body battled with his curious mind as the alarm flashed repeatedly. Finally, his curiosity won and he opened the file. At first it appeared that there was nothing there and Dib sighed in disgust but then a small flash caught his eye. He zeroed the camera in on the small light and tried to get it into focus. The light winked out but Dib already had whatever it was caught on his camera. He grinned and continued to type away and turn the camera onto infrared mode. "You can't hide from me," he told the monitor.

As the camera switched lenses Dib's eyes began to widen. He shook his head at the monitor and hissed angrily. "No."

* * *

Robin heard his communicator go off. He sighed and rolled out of his bed, fully dressed and ready for anything that may come to attack. He picked up the communicator silently hoping that it wasn't anyone too far away. He flipped it open as he ran his fingers through his bed ridden hair in an effort to look at least slightly more awake then he actually felt. "What's up?" he asked.

Dib's face appeared on the small circular screen. The pale teen looked terrified and distraught. "They're here," he said quietly.

Robin frowned, trying to make sense of what Dib just said. "Who's here?" he asked.

"Them," Dib replied exasperatedly. "The Irkens."

Robin's grip on his communicator tightened. "How many?" he asked.

Dib sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know," he replied truthfully. "I only saw a few of the ships that were there. I'm guessing a lot though because I only saw one part of the force and I didn't even see the Massive."

"The Massive?" Robin asked.

"The mothership," Dib replied simply. "It's the Irken stronghold."

Robin nodded and looked around. "All right. There's one Titan who is closer to you then we are right now. I'll call him and ask him to go help you to see what's going on. Meanwhile I want you to stay where you are and monitor the situation. The rest of us will get there as soon as we can."

Dib nodded and Robin watched as he glanced at something off the screen. "What is it?" Robin asked.

"The satellite is detecting more and more ships. They've numbered over 400 now," Dib replied nervously. "I think they're seriously invading."

"Then we have no time to loose," Robin replied. "Keep calm and work on what you're doing."

Dib nodded and the screen went blank.

Robin sighed and set the communicator to make another call.

* * *

Danny curled himself around a pillow underneath his sheets. He had finally gotten into bed around midnight and he had made plans to sleep long into the next morning.

Suddenly, a loud beeping permeated Danny's room. He groaned and practically fell out of bed in his slow effort to get to his communicator. He finally got to it and flipped it open. "Wazzit…" he asked sleepily.

"Phantom, we've got problems," Robin said sternly. "I need you to go back to Dib's house and help him."

Danny sighed and rubbed his eyes in an effort to wake up a little more. "What happened?" he asked.

"We're being invaded," Robin replied simply.

Danny jumped to his feet, wide-awake. "What?" he gasped loudly.

"I need you to go help him get more data and also calm him down before we get there. This is something that's going to take all of us, Phantom."

Danny nodded and quickly transformed. "I'll be there in about a forty-five minutes if I fly as fast as I can."

"We'll be there in an hour," Robin replied. "I need to get everyone up and ready. We're probably going to grab a few things that can help us too."

Danny nodded and went intangible. "All right, see you in a little bit then."

Robin gave Danny a small grin for his benefit. "Good luck."

Danny laughed hollowly. "You too. We're going to need it."

Robin nodded his agreement and the communicator went blank. Danny sighed and shut it with a click. Then he went intangible and flew out the window into the cool night.

Danny closed his eyes as he flew through the air as fast as he could. He went intangible and was vaguely aware of the trees, houses and telephone poles that passed through his body. However that's not what he was thinking about. He was less concerned with his flight and more concerned for its purpose. What did Dib mean when he said they were being invaded? And what reason? If Zim wasn't apart of the Irken Empire anymore then it wasn't them they had to worry about. So who was it and why?

Danny's mind burned with questions as he flew towards Dib and whatever he discovered. He hated not knowing what was going on but he had a bad feeling that Dib didn't know much more then him.

* * *

Dib typed furiously as his computer continued to count the number of ships that were hovering outside of the earth's atmosphere. The sheer amount of numbers made his mind boggle painfully. Currently the count was at 897 and continually rising. "Why do they need so many ships just to take over one planet?" Dib wondered out loud. There really was no reason to use that much force except perhaps to show off how powerful they were. And judging from the way Zim acted that explanation wasn't too far out of the picture.

"What's going on?" a voice asked behind him.

Dib jumped a foot into the air and whirled around to face the speaker.

Danny grinned sheepishly as Dib turned to face him. "Sorry, I was trying to get here as fast as I could so I phased through your roof. Do you mind?"

Dib opened his mouth then closed it awkwardly. He was trying to come to terms with the fact that there was a ghost in his room, talking to him. He shook his head and rubbed his temples, "this is so weird," he murmured.

Danny blinked, not sure what to say.

Dib shook his head and smiled for Danny's benefit. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. And no, I don't mind. At least you don't destroy things when you get my attention."

Danny smiled and shrugged. "I try not to, at least. Doesn't always work out."

Dib snorted. "Well, if it were Zim, he'd just blow it up for the fun of it. So, at least it's not intentional."

"Well, not always," Danny said with a small, mysterious grin. He looked back at Dib who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised and he cleared his throat. "Um, anyways, what's going on?"

"We're being invaded," Dib replied as he pointed to the screen.

Danny looked at the screen and saw hundreds of red dots on a map of the earth. More and more seemed to be appearing as time went on. "Are those… aliens?" he asked.

"Ships," Dib sighed. "Ships with an entire crew on each one of them."

Danny bit his lip nervously. "Who?" he asked. "And why?"

"The Irkens," Dib replied. "I know that much, this energy signal is exactly the same as Zim's. And I really don't know why," he said sadly. "I think I know someone who does, though."

"Zim?" Danny asked.

Dib nodded grimly. "Now, if he actually bothers to listen to me is another matter. And if I can understand what he's saying to me."

"So, he talks like that all the time?" Danny asked.

Dib shrugged with a small laugh. "Actually, when we last met, he was more coherent then I've heard him in awhile. Sometimes he just makes stuff up for the heck of it."

Danny leaned over and pointed at the screen. "Is it still going?"

"Yeah," Dib replied. "So we're just going to call Zim. It's worth getting any information we can about this."

Danny nodded and Dib minimized the window he was working on to open another.

* * *

Zim snarled at his screen as he watched the Irken armada come into range of his sensors. "How dare they," he hissed. "They confront ME? The almighty ZIM?"

"They wanna keel you!" Gir said perkily as he jumped around Zim's underground lab.

Zim's antennae lowered so much that they were pressed flat against his skull. "Thank you, Gir. That helps so much."

"You welcome, master," Gir said with a grin. Then the small robot looked slightly worried. "They won't keel you, will they?" he asked.

Zim laughed boisterously. "No Gir. Not even the impressive Irken empire can bring down the amazing ZIM!"

"Glad to hear it," a voice said.

Zim jumped and looked at his monitor. Dib appeared on it with one of the teens that he had fought a few weeks ago. He couldn't remember the other kid's name but he didn't really care so it didn't matter. Zim grinned devilishly. "Dib."

Dib sighed. "No arguing," he told Zim. "We need answers."

Zim crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Why would I give answers to filth like you?" he asked. "Unless you make me."

"I could," Dib snapped.

Phantom cleared his throat. "Um, can we just please figure out what's going on?" he asked pointedly.

Dib glanced up at Phantom, then back down to Zim. "Well?"

"Again, why would I?" Zim asked.

"Because you have nowhere else to go," Dib pointed out. "No where to run. Come on Zim, didn't you say you were going to be the one to take over the earth? Are you really going to let the Irken's take it over?"

Zim stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It's true," he said with a smile. "This pathetic planet is my goal. And NO ONE will take it over except me. Fine, but I'm only helping so I can have the PLEASURE of destroying you all myself."

"I know," Dib replied while giving Danny a thumbs up behind his back. Danny hid a smile but Zim didn't seem to notice. "So why are they here?"

Zim reclined in his chair. "That much should be obvious," he said. "They came here to destroy me."

* * *

W00t Plot time peoples! Well, the first part anyways. It gets pretty intense here on out so bear with me.

Sorry for the lack of updates. School kinda got to me and I have my SAT's coming up next saturday so I've been studying. Here's an update for you though. Enjoy :3 Hugs and cookies to my reviewers.


	11. Reasons

"Why go through so much trouble just to destroy you?" Dib asked. "I mean, what do they care that you're here on earth as long as you're not going against them or anything."

Zim tugged on his antennae and shook his head. "You don't understand Dib-worm, the Irkens are obsessed with perfection. Every Irken must be superior to every other living thing in this pathetic universe. Otherwise, what point is there in trying to take over the universe? We must PROVE our power and superiority to all other races."

"And you're a defect," Dib finished for him.

Zim nodded and brought his fingertips together. "My programming is flawed, according to the Irken Empire," he said quietly. Then he snorted. "Although this is OBVIOUSLY a lie. Lies, I say," Zim sniffed. "But, they are here to destroy me because they don't see my obvious superiority."

"But why?" Danny asked. "I mean, I understand the whole wanting to be perfect thing but why go through all this trouble to destroy you?"

"My data is still logged into the Empire. Every Irken's data is always at the fingertips of the great brains," Zim explained calmly. "My data must be like a virus to them," Zim shrugged then grinned wickedly. "They just cannot handle MY GREATNESS!" he proclaimed.

Dib nodded, "We know we know. Now, will you help us stop them?" he asked.

Zim eyed Dib and then looked at Danny who glared back. Zim grinned, showing his rather sharp teeth and leaned back into his chair. Danny raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was being singled out by the crazy alien. "Well?" he asked. "Will you help?"

"Only if you say 'please'," Zim said snidely and laughed.

Dib sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on Zim. We already made our case to you. If you want to continue taking over the planet on your own and if you want to live you have to help us take down the Irken Empire's armada."

Zim tugged on his antennae and glared irritably at Dib. "I don't HAVE to help you do anything, filth," he hissed. "In fact, I don't HAVE to do anything. Zim no longer TAKES orders anymore." Zim leaned forward and glared at them through the monitor. "I decide what I do, understand?"

Dib opened his mouth to retaliate but Danny placed his hand on Dib's shoulder. Dib glanced up at the white haired teen and Danny gave him a quick smile before addressing Zim. "Fine, but we're not ordering you to do anything. We're asking for your help. You can decide to do whatever you want but if you want to stay here then we're just saying you're going to have to confront them anyways."

Zim's grin returned and he shrugged. "True," he admitted, almost grudgingly. "Fine, I, ZIM, shall grant you the honor of receiving my almighty help. It won't be easy," Zim warned. "And afterwards, Dib and I shall return to our original battle."

"I look forward to it, space boy," Dib sneered. Then there was a soft knock at his door and Dib turned around to see his younger sister, Gaz standing in front of the rest of the Teen Titans.

Zim blinked and glanced around Dib's room. "You're the same humans that I saw earlier," he finally said.

"What idiotic thing did you do now?" Gaz asked the alien exasperatedly.

The Titans were a bit taken aback at the way Gaz addressed Zim but he didn't seem to mind. It almost appeared that he had a vague respect for the short, purple haired girl. "The Irken army is invading," he said simply. "To destroy me, because I fear I am too perfect."

Gaz snorted and shrugged. "Whatever," she muttered darkly. "Just don't annoy me while I'm playing Piggy Wars V or you will pay." She caught Zim and Dib's glances and held them with her own amber one for a good ten seconds before she stalked off to her room without another word.

Raven watched her leave and grinned. "Wonder if Beast Boy would shut up if I used a glare like that," she asked Cyborg quietly who quietly laughed in reply.

"Anyways," Dib continued. "Zim agreed to help, so long as we don't order him around. And I have probes and stuff in space that can help us find out just how many we're dealing with. Aside from that… who else is going to help?"

"We have some friends," Robin replied with a smile. "There are more Titans then this," he said. "Don't worry."

Zim curled into his large seat and glanced about the room again. "So, do you really wish to attack the Irken armada?" he asked.

"Unless you have a better idea," Robin replied with a raised eyebrow. "Any suggestions are welcome."

"The Massive," Zim said simply.

"Come again?" Beast Boy asked from behind Starfire.

"The Massive," Zim said again. "The ALMIGHTY mother ship of the Irken Army. It is about half the size of this pathetic little planet. It's the defensive and offensive stronghold and it has the Tallest on it."

"Tallest?" Starfire asked.

"The Irken's leaders," Dib replied before Zim had a chance.

Zim nodded and brought up a screen on his computer so that the Titans and Dib could see what he was talking about. "These are the plans for the Massive," Zim said while pointing at it. "I used these to take over the Massive once. My point is, if you destroy the massive then a lot of your worries are over."

"Think you could take it over again?" Cyborg asked while trying very hard to make sense of the blueprints in front of him.

Zim sniffed airily. "Of course I can take over the Massive again," he said haughtily. "If I was on the massive I could probably destroy it from the inside," he mused quietly. "It has a lot of weak points on the interior," Zim's voice trailed off and a curious look of deep thought came over his features.

"We'll come by your place," Dib said with a sigh. "Promise not to shoot us?"

"I promise nothing, Dib-worm," Zim replied but it was more of an automatic reaction then a threat. Dib shrugged and turned off his monitor.

The Titans followed Dib outside and down the road towards Zim's house. "Crazy little guy, isn't he?" Cyborg asked finally.

Dib laughed and nodded. "Oh yes. Totally insane and now he has no one to keep him under any kind of control. He actually did listen to the Tallest before. I think. As much as Zim can obey someone."

"Is that why he was so touchy about not taking orders anymore?" Danny asked.

Dib nodded. "Yeah, I think he's really upset about what happened. I can't say I blame him though. I mean, I think he's a horrible person and probably doesn't deserve as many chances as we're giving him but I do feel kinda sorry for him."

"This Zim," Robin said after a short silence. "Is he… smart?"

Dib looked at Robin and frowned. "He's…" Dib sighed and rubbed his forehead. "He's brilliant," he finally said. "Yeah, he's smart. He did take over the Massive. I also managed to hack into his computer and take it from him but he destroyed my probe before I could do anything worthwhile. He also built one of the robots he's with, the purple one. He knows how to build things, program things, create viruses, mutate things, and well… really anything. Zim is the worst kind of scientist because he can do anything and he knows it, but he doesn't always think everything through. So while he's smart enough to do a lot of things, he's also very dangerous. It's like a five year old with the smarts of a supercomputer."

"Terrifying," Raven said dryly.

Dib glanced and her and snorted. "It should be. You haven't seen what he can do. Not yet. Even though Zim's never actually managed to take over the world he has done a lot of damage. Like one time he created a giant water balloon that flooded the entire city and destroyed, well everything, including his base. But all he wanted to do was get revenge on me. He becomes so fixated on one thing that nothing else matters or serves as a warning."

"But you think he can help?" Danny asked.

"I know he has the potential to help," Dib said. "I hope he can. I think he will." Dib grinned. "If he wants to stay here badly enough he'll find a way to make it happen. I don't have any worries there."

"That is good," Starfire said quietly. "Because it seems to me that this empire is more of a threat to everyone then Zim."

"They are," Dib agreed. "Zim is less of a threat now and more of a…"

"Nuisance?" Danny supplied.

"Yeah," Dib replied slowly. "That's a good way of putting it."

"You seem to enjoy fighting him though," Raven pointed out. "Otherwise you wouldn't have helped him when he crashed back on earth before."

"I didn't help him," Dib protested, scandalized. "I mean…" Dib looked around at the doubtful faces of the Titans. "We're rivals," he finally muttered and left it at that.

The group came up to Zim's rather startlingly bright green house and walked into the yard. Raven glanced at the 'I 'heart' Earth' sign in the front yard and glanced at Danny who shrugged in return. Dib ignored all the odd paraphernalia in the front yard and marched right up to the door. Danny noted that it had a 'men's' bathroom sign insignia on it before Dib knocked loudly. The door creaked open and Gir stuck his head out. "Yeeeesssss?" he asked loudly.

"We're here to see Zim," Dib said.

"Okeh," Gir said cheerfully and flung open the door. The Titans and Dib followed the skipping robot into the living room and looked around at the semi-normal living space. Robin quietly shut the door behind them as Gir looked around. "Master," he yelled out. "Your friends are heeeeerrrreeeee."

"Dib-stink, you know how to get down," Zim's voice came over a com system. "Just come and leave Gir upstairs. He's annoying me." As Zim's voice cut off Gir giggled loudly and Dib shrugged.

"How do we get down?" Cyborg asked.

Dib pointed at the couch. "I think one entrance to his labs is under that," he said. "Just pick it up or push it or something."

Cyborg nodded and pushed it aside and sure enough there was a large hole that led down into the lower portions of the house. Dib stopped Gir from jumping into the hole by grabbing the antennae on the top of his head and picking him up. "Hey Gir, why don't you go make waffles?" Dib suggested.

"WAFFLES!" Gir yelled and dashed for the kitchen.

Dib turned and glanced at the odd looks the rest of the Titans were giving him. "What?" he asked.

"You are… very used to this, yes?" Starfire asked.

Dib made and face. "More then I'd like," he admitted and jumped into the hole.

The rest of the Titans followed and the couch slid back into place over them. Danny accelerated a bit and slowed Dib down before he reached the floor. Starfire gave the came courtesy to Cyborg and Raven helped Robin land lightly. Beast Boy fluttered down behind the rest of them in a flurry of wings and feathers.

Dib gave Danny a smile and nodded. "Thanks," he said and walked ahead.

Danny nodded back. "You're welcome," he replied before looking around. He whistled at all the seemingly high tech gadgets in the basement of Zim's house.

"He's got some nice hardware," Cyborg admitted as he looked around.

"Why thank you, machine earth creature," Zim said from behind them. "I am well aware my tools are quite amazing. I made the computer you see before you myself, as I felt that the Irken one really wasn't quite so good."

"You rebuild everything you get, don't you?" Dib asked Zim dubiously.

"Yes, and there's nothing wrong with that. The only thing I haven't rebuilt is Gir and my Pak. Anyways, I think the Tallest are planning on making a broadcast soon," Zim said and pointed to the monitor. "If you're quick you can trace it and save a connection into the Massive on disc."

"Devious, aren't you?" Cyborg asked.

Zim grinned maliciously. "You have no idea," he said.

* * *

Hee, I just got hired for a new job so I'm in a fairly decent mood. Enjoy the update! Hugs and cookies to all my reviewers and I'll see you in the next chapter where the Tallest appear! Again! Yay. I love the Tallest XD 


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